With increasing pressure on EU development budgets,optimising the impact of the EU’s concessional finance is critical. Check out this paper we have put together with @cgdev.org colleagues on how the EFSD+ guarantee instrument can be strengthened to support EMDEs better. www.cgdev.org/publication/...

Here waiting for Moody's, S&P and Fitch to put the US on watch...

The African Financing Stability Mechanism (AFSM) technical and operational report is finally out! Africa is the only continent without a Regional Financing Arrangement, making this initiative a game changer to address African financial vulnerabilities. www.afdb.org/en/documents...

Sovereign debt issues for EMDEs were a predictable subject of many conversations at the WB-IMF Annual Meetings. In a new CGD blog, Masood Ahmed, Hannah Brown & I share our takeaways on the state of play and how to make progress to address urgent needs. cgdev.org/blog/main-ta...

Does SDR recycling impair reserve management? In a new Center for Global Development note, Mark Plant and I show that the UK can manage its reserves well and recycle SDRs to vulnerable countries, but the IMF can learn from this case to reform the VTA choice mechanism. www.cgdev.org/publication/...

One issue - rightfully flagged by @bernatcamps.bsky.social on the other platform - is missing from the op-ed. Low income countries are sheltered from surging SDR interest but not completely because if they drew on their SDR allocations it's akin to a perpetual loan with a variable rate (the SDRi)...

Two years after the G20 commitment to recycling US$100 billion worth of SDRs to vulnerable nations, pledges still fall short and less than 1% of the promised support reached vulnerable economies. Here's an update from Mark Plant and me: www.cgdev.org/blog/empty-w...

On October 13th, CGD, the AfDB, the IDB, and the Rockefeller Foundation hosted a high-level meeting to discuss the rechanneling of SDRs to MDBs. Key takeaways from the PR: - Representatives from the IMF noted that in the Staff's view, the hybrid capital proposal meets the Reserve Asset Status!

New CGD Working Paper - Climate Change and Government Borrowing Costs: A Triple Whammy for Emerging Market Economies. We investigate the impact of both climate debt and climate vulnerability/resilience on sovereign bond yields and spreads in AE and EM using a novel dataset. 1/4

I must say I disagree with some of the remarks made by the Governor of the Bank of Ghana on the PRGT. Short thread 1) Surcharges only apply to borrowing from the GRA, lending under the PRGT comes without surcharges (although yes, eliminate surcharges for GRA) www.businessghana.com/site/news/Bu...

IMFC Chair's Statement 10 key takeaways: 1: The global economy has been resilient, with the 2023 growth outlook slightly upgraded since the Spring. However, recovery has been uneven and medium-term global growth projections remain weak.

New loan resources for the PRGT! Borrowing agreements with Australia, China, Finland, France, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK will provide new PRGT loan resources in a total amount of about SDR 5.1 billion (~6.7 bn$). That means the loan resources target has been met.

Interesting graph in the WEO on changes in tanker shipments from Russia's ports from 2019 to 2023 (decreases in blue and increases in red). Russian oil shipments rose after the invasion to China, India, Turkiye and the UAE; And Europe imported more from Norway, UAE and the US.

The WEO is out, the likelihood of a soft landing has increased, but the growth forecast is the lowest in decades. www.imf.org/en/Publicati...

Ahead of the Annual Meetings in Marrakech, IMF's Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva gave a speech at Côte d'Ivoire on the outlook for the global economy and policy priorities. Key takeaways in this thread, but first some context: www.imf.org/en/News/Arti...

The Bretton Woods Project just published an interesting brief on reconceptualising SDRs as a tool for development finance.The brief calls for: 1:Periodic general allocations 2:Decoupling SDRs from quotas 3:Revisiting IMF tools and rechanneling mechanisms www.brettonwoodsproject.org/2023/10/reco...

It's that time of the year, the annual update on SDR trading operations is out! If you don't have time to read the report, I've got you covered, here's a thread with the most interesting parts. But first, what exactly is this report and why does it matter? My first thread on Bluesky!