In August, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) allocated $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the international reserve asset of the IMF, to support liquidity and foster global economic resilience in the wake of COVID-19. To further these recovery efforts, a Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) was proposed, in part as a means of re-channeling […]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the year 2020 saw the sharpest economic downturn since the Great Depression. In 2021, the world economy is showing signs of a broad, albeit uneven recovery. The existing gaps of vaccination rollouts, economic fundamentals, and varying monetary and fiscal responses in different countries pose challenges in the areas of financial […]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) provides a global public good when it lends emergency balance of payments support to countries that otherwise could not access such financing at comparable terms. No country borrows from the IMF lightly, and only does so as a last resort in the face of an economic crisis. In exchange for […]
By Rishikesh Ram Bhandary The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently approved a global allocation of $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to support global liquidity, address the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and foster resilience of the global economy. While a substantial step in the right direction, the allocation falls short on two main fronts. First, […]
By Rachel Thrasher The growth of Bangladesh’s pharmaceutical sector into an economic powerhouse has helped the country meet the necessary criteria for graduation from Least Developed Country (LDC) status. But upon graduation, the country will need to begin bringing its policy landscape into compliance with the trade and intellectual property rules at the World Trade […]
Climate change and policy responses to address climate change pose significant risks to financial and fiscal stability, poverty and inequality, and the long-run growth prospects of the world economy. In the midst of a global pandemic, 2021 has already been marked by a slew of extreme weather events, wreaking havoc on countries and economies across […]
In his remarks at the 76th United Nations General Assembly, Chinese leader Xi Jinping announced China “will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad,” a major step in reducing carbon emissions during a critical decade. What does this mean in terms of global climate and development goals? How will China’s announcement affect its energy finance to […]
China is now the world’s largest source of bilateral development finance and will likely continue to play a prominent role in sovereign lending through its multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). A new journal article published in Nature’s Scientific Data by a team of Boston University Global Development Policy Center researchers introduces major methodological enhancements […]
China has become one of the world’s largest lenders in overseas development finance. Development projects, such as roads, railways and power plants, can often result in biodiversity loss and infringement on Indigenous lands, yet the risks implicit in China’s overseas development finance have until now been poorly understood. In a new journal article published in […]
Since its inception eight years ago, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has led to more than 200 cooperation documents with 140 countries and 31 international organizations. Behind the scenes, Chinese policymakers have been developing an environmental management framework to govern their outbound investment and finance to “green” the BRI and help countries achieve the […]