By Tim Hirschel-Burns On Tuesday, December 12th, the Boston University Global Development Policy Center (GDP Center) hosted a webinar titled, “A Crisis of Confidence? Reestablishing the Legitimacy of the International Monetary Fund and the Global Financial Safety Net.” The discussion covered quota reform at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the newly updated Global Financial Safety […]
By Sayuri Kataoka and Samantha Igo The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is scheduled to conclude its 16th General Review of Quotas this month, a process designed to bring the IMF’s governance system in light with current realities of the global economy. The IMF’s quota system determines the financial contribution of member countries, the distribution of […]
By Laurissa Mühlich, Barbara Fritz and William N. Kring Reform of the international financial architecture has become a pivotal issue, particularly for emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) facing pressures from all sides: high interest rates, an increasing cost of capital, growing sovereign debt burdens, rising geopolitical tensions and climate shocks. The Global Financial Safety […]
By Tim Hirschel-Burns With the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai underway, countries are yet to resolve major questions on closing the gap on both climate finance and ambition. Most notably, last year’s key decision to establish a loss and damage fund, has long been mired in debate. Although the fund has now […]
By Tim Hirschel-Burns On December 1, 2023, Brazil took over the presidency of the Group of 20 (G20) from India (the recent addition of the African Union as a permanent member means the forum has 21 members, but for now it’s still being called the G20). Brazil’s presidency—its first time heading the organization—will include over […]
The Global Financial Safety Net (GFSN) has been dramatically reshaped since 2000. While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is still the world’s largest and most capable provider of emergency liquidity, as well as the only one that operates at a global level, it is now flanked by multiple regional financial arrangements (RFAs) whose combined lending […]
The rapid growth in stablecoin issuance and the recent testing of stablecoins’ par settlement promises has provoked a flurry of papers proposing various forms of regulation and alternatives, from various vantage points. However, how do stablecoins hold up from the vantage point of the money view, which focuses attention on the mechanism of settlement and […]
Climate vulnerable countries, such as those in Latin America and the Caribbean, are currently locked in a cycle of debt and climate: extreme weather events are driving up debt burdens, shrinking already-limited fiscal space and leading to higher costs of capital. Governments are left unable to adequately invest in adaptation measures or meet nationally determined […]
By Samantha Igo Within 24 hours in late October, Hurricane Otis, in defiance of forecasting models, increased windspeed by 115 mph and made landfall in Acapulco, Mexico as a Category 5 hurricane. In addition to the devastating loss of life, insurance analysts have estimated “insurable” losses in Acapulco and the surrounding area to be as […]
Euro area central banks are reporting losses as they pay banks 4 percent but collect only 1 percent on trillions of euros of bonds bought to spur growth with lower yields. Once central banks exhaust their capital, they may need to go to their governments. Recently, the European Central Bank (ECB) ceased to pay interest […]