Is the IMF Still Relevant?

For much of the 20th century, the United States has toggled between two foreign policy impulses: to actively insert itself in the affairs of the world or to hang back and focus on its own domestic issues. Advocates of the two approaches to international relations have had various ...  Show more

In large parts of the world, economic and technological progress has made people’s lives significantly better over the past few decades. From China to Africa to Latin America, large swaths of the population are healthier and more prosperous than ever.   But even as humanity has a ...  Show more

Since the second world war, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have attempted to help countries in financial difficulties by providing low interest loans. This week the two Bretton Woods institutions have been holding their annual meetings in the Moroccan to ...  Show more

The International Monetary Fund has warned that "the worst is yet to come" and next year may feel like a recession. It blames the war in Ukraine and rising prices worldwide. The BBC’s Business Correspondent Michelle Fleury joins us from the IMF in Washington DC. Meanwhile, the do ...  Show more

With the IMF saying earlier this month that about 25% of emerging and 60% of low-income countries are having trouble paying their debts, we take a closer look at the scale of national debts around the world. We examine China’s role as creditor for emerging countries and speak to ...  Show more

The 2023 World Bank Group-IMF Spring Meetings took place from April 10-16, amidst a backdrop of challenges: from stress in the banking sector, persistent inflation, rising debt, climate change and of course Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Addressing this instability, and lo ...  Show more