The IMF Transcript of the 2023 Fiscal Monitor Press Briefing discusses the following topics:
The impact of the pandemic on fiscal policy.
The role of fiscal policy in supporting monetary policy.
The need to reduce debt levels.
The risks to financial stability.
The need to support vulnerable members.
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Steve Schifferes, City, University of London
UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s spring budget is a tricky one in terms of timing. Having announced a set of steadying measures in the autumn statement after the Truss/Kwarteng debacle, this budget is likely to be the last but one before a 2024 general election. This makes it a little early for eye-catching tax cuts or business boosts.
The International Gas Union (IGU) in partnership with Hawilti Ltd. released an important new study on Gas for Africa, assessing the potential for domestic gas resources to energise Africa in line with the global energy transition. The African Energy Commission (AU-AFREC) and the Africa Finance Corporation endorse the report and its findings. Continue reading
Research from the CBI and Finastra, canvassing the opinions of UK small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), suggests that there’s a gap between the ambition of firms to trade internationally and the reality of doing so. While just 44% of businesses surveyed currently engage in international trade, only 23% said they were not interested in doing so. One third of respondents believe there’s potential value, but do not trade internationally due to perceived barriers and a lack of support. Continue reading
Leading online global travel service provider, Trip.com Group, is driving the ongoing recovery of travel at the prestigious World Economic Forum (WEF). Trip.com Group Chief Executive Officer, Jane Sun, attended the in-person forum held in Davos, Switzerland that brings together leaders from government, business, and civil society to address the state of the world and discuss priorities for the year ahead. Continue reading
John Hammond, University of Reading and Yiorgos Gadanakis, University of Reading
Welcome to this special report on the food industry, the fourth instalment in our series on where the global economy is heading in 2023. It follows recent articles on inflation, energy and the cost of living.
Simon Chadwick, SKEMA Business School and Paul Widdop, University of Manchester
After four weeks, 64 games and more than a decade of controversy, Argentina has won the Fifa men’s World Cup in Qatar. And as Lionel Messi and his teammates celebrate victory over France, another competition has also reached its conclusion – the battle for “soft power”.
Facing an unprecedented mix of challenges, the global economy is facing a sharp deterioration of growth. After 2023, the picture is slightly better, as we expect that current actions of central banks and normalisation of supply chains help to alleviate price pressures. Continue reading
Patrick E. Shea, University of Glasgow
Countries across the world are drifting towards a debt crisis. Economic slowdowns and rising inflation have increased demands on spending, making it almost impossible for many governments to pay back the money they owe.
