by Abdelhak Senhadji, Dora Benedek, Edward Gemayel, and Alexander Tieman

The pandemic’s impact on the world’s poor has been especially harsh. COVID-19 may have pushed about 100 million people into extreme poverty in 2020 alone, while the UN warns that in some regions poverty could rise to levels not seen in 30 years. The current crisis has derailed progress toward basic development goals, as low-income developing countries must now balance urgent spending to protect lives and livelihoods with longer-term investments in health, education, physical infrastructure, and other essential needs.

In a new study, we propose a framework for developing countries to evaluate policy choices that can raise long-term growth, mobilize more revenue, and attract private investments to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Even with ambitious domestic reforms, most low-income developing countries will not be able to raise the necessary resources to finance these...

April 28, 2021

Across the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (MENAP), countries responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with unprecedented scale and urgency. While this strong response helped save lives and cushion the economic blow, it also exacerbated existing debt vulnerabilities and led to a surge in financing needs.

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Technological innovation is fueling the resurgence of community currencies

About a century before Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin, there was Johann Silvio Gesell. A little-known amateur German economist, Gesell was motivated by a similar libertarian spirit: to create currencies independent of national governments and central banks. He believed communities could grow faster with money that would boost local activity and not be spent elsewhere.

Although there have been hundreds of community currencies (or “scrips”), they have always remained largely an economic curiosity. Now, this concept from yesterday is harnessing technologies of today, like blockchain and mobile payments, potentially creating new development tools for tomorrow.

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April 28, 2021

Across the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (MENAP), countries responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with unprecedented scale and urgency. While this strong response helped save lives and cushion the economic blow, it also exacerbated existing debt vulnerabilities and led to a surge in financing needs.

Latin America entered the pandemic as one of the most unequal regions in the world. And like much of the rest of the world, it will come out of the pandemic poorer and more unequal. Early estimates suggest that 19 million more people in the region have fallen into poverty and inequality increased by 5 percent compared to pre-crisis levels. Large scale public support in many countries prevented an even worse outcome, but this pushed public debt levels from 68 to 77 percent of GDP. This will likely limit governments’ ability to tackle longer-term legacies of the pandemic once the recovery gains traction.

And yet, the outlook for poverty and inequality in the region could be brighter than it appears for two reasons: (i) resurgent commodity prices; and (ii) the opportunity provided by the pandemic for a broader political and social consensus on necessary reforms.

Making the most of resurgent commodity prices

Commodity terms of trade—the ratio between a...

April 28, 2021

Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva announced today that Alejandro Werner, Director of the Western Hemisphere Department, intends to retire from the Fund on August 31, 2021. Mr. Werner took up the post in 2013.

“Alejandro led the Department through very challenging times and leaves it on a firm footing to carry on the work of assisting our member countries throughout the region,” Ms. Georgieva said. “I deeply appreciated his expertise, sound judgment, and advice and am thankful to him for his excellent service and support.”

During Mr. Werner’s tenure, the IMF strengthened its presence in Latin America, including through the 2015 Annual Meetings in Lima, Peru, and deepened engagement with its Caribbean and North American member countries.

“Alejandro’s deep knowledge of the region and wide-ranging experience in the public and private sectors and in academia have been...

Latin America entered the pandemic as one of the most unequal regions in the world. And like much of the rest of the world, it will come out of the pandemic poorer and more unequal. Early estimates suggest that 19 million more people in the region have fallen into poverty and inequality increased by 5 percent compared to pre-crisis levels. Large scale public support in many countries prevented an even worse outcome, but this pushed public debt levels from 68 to 77 percent of GDP. This will likely limit governments’ ability to tackle longer-term legacies of the pandemic once the recovery gains traction.

And yet, the outlook for poverty and inequality in the region could be brighter than it appears for two reasons: (i) resurgent commodity prices; and (ii) the opportunity provided by the pandemic for a broader political and social consensus on necessary reforms.

Making the most of resurgent commodity prices

Commodity terms of trade—the ratio between a...

April 28, 2021

Across the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (MENAP), countries responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with unprecedented scale and urgency. While this strong response helped save lives and cushion the economic blow, it also exacerbated existing debt vulnerabilities and led to a surge in financing needs.

The global pandemic has derailed progress toward the SDGs as developing countries now balance long-term investments in health, education, roads, electricity, and water with spending to protect lives and livelihoods.

Bringing the SDGs within reach by 2030 will take a global effort from all stakeholders.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has run the numbers and is publishing a framework for developing countries to consider policy choices that can raise long term growth and bring in private investments in SDG projects. In this conversation with Ian Goldin, Kristalina Georgieva will look at country case studies and the kinds of reforms each can make to move towards the SDGs by 2030.

Although it looks as though the building blocks of prosperity have moved just a bit farther out of reach, the roadmap for how to get there is now clearer.

To register and watch this talk live: www.crowdcast.io/e/kristalina-georgieva

The talk will also...

Latin America entered the pandemic as one of the most unequal regions in the world. And like much of the rest of the world, it will come out of the pandemic poorer and more unequal. Early estimates suggest that 19 million more people in the region have fallen into poverty and inequality increased by 5 percent compared to pre-crisis levels. Large scale public support in many countries prevented an even worse outcome, but this pushed public debt levels from 68 to 77 percent of GDP. This will likely limit governments’ ability to tackle longer-term legacies of the pandemic once the recovery gains traction.

And yet, the outlook for poverty and inequality in the region could be brighter than it appears for two reasons: (i) resurgent commodity prices; and (ii) the opportunity provided by the pandemic for a broader political and social consensus on necessary reforms.

Making the most of resurgent commodity prices

Commodity terms of trade—the ratio between a...

Download PDF

Technological innovation is fueling the resurgence of community currencies

About a century before Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin, there was Johann Silvio Gesell. A little-known amateur German economist, Gesell was motivated by a similar libertarian spirit: to create currencies independent of national governments and central banks. He believed communities could grow faster with money that would boost local activity and not be spent elsewhere.

Although there have been hundreds of community currencies (or “scrips”), they have always remained largely an economic curiosity. Now, this concept from yesterday is harnessing technologies of today, like blockchain and mobile payments, potentially creating new development tools for tomorrow.

Latin America entered the pandemic as one of the most unequal regions in the world. And like much of the rest of the world, it will come out of the pandemic poorer and more unequal. Early estimates suggest that 19 million more people in the region have fallen into poverty and inequality increased by 5 percent compared to pre-crisis levels. Large scale public support in many countries prevented an even worse outcome, but this pushed public debt levels from 68 to 77 percent of GDP. This will likely limit governments’ ability to tackle longer-term legacies of the pandemic once the recovery gains traction.

And yet, the outlook for poverty and inequality in the region could be brighter than it appears for two reasons: (i) resurgent commodity prices; and (ii) the opportunity provided by the pandemic for a broader political and social consensus on necessary reforms.

Making the most of resurgent commodity prices

Commodity terms of trade—the ratio between...