Global Economic Monitoring Branch (GEMB)

Forthcoming changes in US monetary policy will have significant impacts on countries? net international investment positions, likely pushing some least developed countries to greater indebtedness.

The world has emerged from the depths of a paralyzing economic crisis, but recovery remains fragile amid the lingering pandemic, persistent labour market challenges, ongoing supply-chain disruptions and rising inflation.

The global economic recovery is facing significant headwinds amid new waves of COVID-19 infections, persistent labour market challenges, lingering supply-chain challenges and rising inflationary pressures.

Favourable terms of trade provide much needed policy room to combat the pandemic and advance transformative reforms that can sustainably reduce poverty and inequality.

Despite unemployment remaining above pre-pandemic levels, advanced economies are confronted with labour shortages. Ageing population, migration patterns, low wages and concerns about workplace safety explain the phenomenon.

The October Monthly Briefing takes a closer look at the results of the most recent bank lending survey by the European Central Bank (ECB), which provides some insights into the shape of economic activity in the euro area.

Unconventional monetary policy measures have played a crucial part in central banks? responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Large-scale quantitative easing has led to an unprecedented expansion of developed country central bank balanced sheets.

The force of the US expansion is reverberating across the world through trade and financial channels. As the recovery picks up speed, concerns over rising inflation and interest rates in the US are increasing.

Many developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, are not projected to recover to pre-pandemic output levels until 2023.