Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
From surging oil, gas, and fertilizer prices to higher shipping costs, the war in the Middle East has triggered a new supply shock across sub-Saharan Africa. We project growth to slow to 4.3% in 2025, and median inflation to rise to 5% by year-end.
https://www.imf.org/en/publications/reo/ssa/issues/2026/04/16/regional-economic-outlook-for-sub-saharan-africa-april-2026
Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
The gap between the pace of AI development and the readiness of governments to manage its macroeconomic consequences is widening. Closing that gap through smarter regulation, investment in public AI capacity, and international coordination is not a technology question. It is a policy one. This panel brings together leading voices from innovation economics, global management practice, and frontier AI development to map that gap and chart what policy must do next.
Speakers
Bo Li, Deputy Managing Director, IMF
Neil Thompson, Director, MIT FutureTech
Anu Madgavkar, MGI Partner, McKinsey Global Institute
Peter McCrory, Head of Economics, Anthropic
Mihnea Constantinescu, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Moldova
Karen Tso, Co-Anchor CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ in EMEA
Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
Will stablecoins play an important role in payments? We contribute novel empirical evidence on this question using high-frequency changes in the stock prices of incumbent payment firms around the passage of major stablecoin legislation.
Speaker
Alex Copestake, Research Department, IMF
Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
Rare earths are critical to manufacturing but supply chains are concentrated. We quantify disruption costs and show that coordinated industrial policy can de-risk supply chains affordably—framing REE policy as an insurance problem.
Speakers
Andrea Paloschi, Research Department, IMF
Christian Bogmans, Research Department, IMF
Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
As the 2026 Spring Meetings come to a close, this is how five days of listening, dialogue, and collaboration look like in 60 seconds. #IMFMeetings
Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
A truly eventful Spring Meetings ends with echoes of "See you in Thailand." Thank you for your participation. The countdown to Bangkok begins now.
🇹🇭 176 days to go!
Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
Economic integration is changing as geoeconomic fragmentation and shifting supply chains reshape global risks and opportunities. How can countries seize the gains of integration while protecting themselves from more frequent shocks and vulnerabilities?
Join us on Friday, April 17 at 2:00 PM ET for a discussion on the Future of Economic Integration with Dan Katz, IMF First Deputy Managing Director; Edgar Amador, Minister of Finance of Mexico; Mehmet Şimşek, Minister of Treasury and Finance of Türkiye; and Amir Hamzah Azizan, Minister of Finance of Malaysia. Bloomberg’s Lisa Abramowicz will moderate the seminar.
The panel will discuss policy tradeoffs, and explore practical strategies to strengthen growth, resilience, and stability in an increasingly complex global economy.
Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
This aid shock is unprecedented in scale, speed, and uncertainty. Low income and fragile states are hit hardest yet have limited policy space and capacity to cope. Outcomes hinge on hard policy choices: protect high impact aid, expand financing tools, and build domestic capacity.
Speakers
Athene Laws, African Department, IMF
Maurizio Leonardi, African Department, IMF
Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
We introduce the FinOpen index, a new non-binary measure of capital account openness. Our results show that opening first to equity—rather than debt—leads to more stable external financing, especially in countries with stronger institutions.
Speakers
Tobias Krahnke, Strategy, Policy and Review Department, IMF
Wenjie Li, Institute for Capacity Development, IMF
Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is diffusing rapidly, but Europe risks capturing only a modest growth boost without reforms. Fragmented services, limited access to finance for innovation, labor market rigidities, and regulation can all limit the productivity payoff from AI.
Speakers
Florian Misch, European Department Department, IMF
Carlo Pizzinelli, European Department Department, IMF
