Debt levels in many countries were high when the pandemic hit. But today, global public debt is reaching 100 percent of GDP. In this podcast, we hear a panel discussion about the very real danger for some countries of falling into a debt trap. The seminar was held during the 2021 IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings and featured IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, Mohamed El-Erian, President of Queens’ College, Cambridge, and Vera Songwe, Under-Secretary-General at the United Nations. The Panel was moderated by Martin Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator at the Financial Times. Go to IMF.org to watch the webcast.

Averting a COVID-19 Debt Trap

Listen to the World's top economists discuss their research and deconstruct global economic trends.

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While African countries have little to do with what’s causing the climate crisis, they are feeling the brunt of the extreme weather patterns and left footing a climate-mitigation bill they can’t afford. Michael Olabisi is an assistant professor at Michigan State University and studies sustainable development in low-income countries. In this podcast, Olabisi says climate change is a global challenge and it’s high time the world's advanced economies start treating it as such.  Transcript: https://bit.ly/4ay37X7

Michael Olabisi: Thinking Globally to Pay Africa’s Climate Bill

When disaster strikes, the knee-jerk reaction is to seek public funds for support, but private donors have the agility that governments often don’t. And while capital flows to Africa slowed to a trickle during the pandemic, philanthropy and remittances held steady. Una Osili is the Associate Dean for Research and International Programs at Indiana University and holds the Efroymson Chair in Philanthropy. Osili believes Africa would benefit from more private donor funding and more African women to manage it. In this podcast, Journalist Rhoda Metcalfe asks Dr. Osili about her work and why there aren’t more women economists on the continent.  Transcript: https://bit.ly/4bhCfvP

Women in Economics: Una Osili on the Resilience of Philanthropy and Why so Few African Women Economists

Conflict disrupts lives and economies everywhere, but recent IMF analytical work suggests the economic impact of conflict in the Middle East and Central Asia has proven larger and more persistent than in other regions. In this podcast, Ghassan Salamé (SciencesPo Paris), Mark Malloch-Brown (Open Society Foundations), and Rola Dashti (UNESCWA) discuss how the recent scourge of conflict and instability requires innovative thinking. The panel was held during the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings and moderated by CNN International’s Julia Chatterley.

Policymaking in Times of Conflict and Instability

The World Economic Outlook is more than projected growth rates. The research behind those projections tells the story of how 190 countries, slowly but steadily, found their way through the fog of the past few years to emerge a testament to the resilience of the global economy. Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas is IMF Chief Economist and brings together the multitude of analytics, data and insight that provide the signposts. In this podcast, Gourinchas says while the fears of a global recession have not materialized, the path ahead is not without obstacles.  Transcript: https://bit.ly/4b5O6x6   Read the full report at IMF.org

Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas on the Global Outlook: Steady but Slow

Sub-Saharan Africa is slowly emerging from four turbulent years with higher growth expected for nearly two thirds of countries in the region. But while inflation has almost halved and debt has broadly stabilized, economies are still grappling with financing shortages and impending debt repayments. Wenjie Chen is deputy head of the team that publishes the Regional Economic Outlook for sub-Saharan Africa. In this podcast, she says the surging global demand for critical minerals key to renewable energy systems could help the region overcome the ongoing funding squeeze.    Transcript: https://bit.ly/3WbU6iT  Read the full report at IMF.org

Averting a COVID-19 Debt Trap

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