Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
After its fastest growth in a decade in 2025, sub-Saharan Africa faces a new test. The war in the Middle East is pushing up commodity and shipping costs, and growth is expected to slow to 4.3% in 2026. Many countries in the region will be the hardest hit. IMF African Department Director Abebe Aemro Selassie explains: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/reo/ssa/issues/2026/04/16/regional-economic-outlook-for-sub-saharan-africa-april-2026?cid=sm-com-yt-sm26-REOAFREA2026001
Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
The global economy is navigating turbulence. Trade is shifting. Geopolitical risks are rising. And the war in the Middle East is once again testing resilience.
On April 16 at 12:00 PM ET, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva sits down with Thailand Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Ekniti Nitithanprapas; Banque de France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau; S&P Global President and CEO Martina Cheung; and Tolani Senior Professor of Trade Policy and Professor of Economics at Cornell University Eswar Prasad to debate how policymakers deliver stability and durably raise growth in a more shock-prone world.
Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
Europe is once again under pressure. A renewed escalation of the war in the Middle East is adding to an already uncertain global environment—driving energy price volatility, complicating the inflation outlook, and testing Europe’s economic resilience. This comes at a time when growth remains subdued, productivity gains are limited, and fiscal space is increasingly constrained. At the same time, Europe faces rising demands: strengthening energy security, financing defense, advancing the green and digital transitions, and maintaining social cohesion. The challenge is no longer how to respond to a single shock—but how to operate in a world of repeated and overlapping shocks. In this Governor’s Talk, Alfred Kammer and Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis will discuss how Europe can secure both stronger growth and greater resilience—by deepening integration, strengthening policy frameworks, and making difficult but necessary choices. https://www.imfconnect.org/content/imf/en/annual-meetings/calendar/open/2026/04/16/207106.html
Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
This Fiscal Monitor explores how governments can improve economic growth prospects by enhancing the efficiency and composition of public spending. Redirecting public spending toward infrastructure, education, health, and research and development, without increasing overall spending, can deliver significant long-term gains in output. Closing gaps in efficiency can further magnify these gains, with institution-building being the most effective strategy. The analysis provides new global and time-varying datasets of public spending efficiency and rigidity.
Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
The war in the Middle East has been a major shock, with significant implications for trade, energy markets, and macro financial stability for many countries in the region and beyond. Qatar is confronting this pivotal economic moment with damage to critical energy infrastructure, disruptions to energy exports and production, and interruption to air and maritime transportation routes as well as increased uncertainty.
This Governor’s Talk provides an opportunity to hear from H.E. Minister Al Kuwari how Qatar has been impacted by the conflict, and how its fiscal and structural policies and institutions are adapting to manage the changed conjuncture to preserve policy credibility, intergenerational equity, and macroeconomic stability. He will also discuss the role played by Qatar’s underlying strengths—including its credible macroeconomic framework, sizable sovereign buffers, and ongoing reforms under the Third National Development Strategy (NDS3)—in managing the impact of the conflict.
Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
Thailand has demonstrated resilience amid a highly uncertain global environment, yet it faces mounting economic challenges. Growth has moderated due to long standing structural constraints, while cyclical headwinds are intensifying against a backdrop of heightened geopolitical tensions and the energy price shock induced by the conflict in the Middle East. At the same time, Thailand’s recent election has helped reduce political uncertainty, opening a long awaited window of opportunity to advance reforms needed to strengthen growth and resilience. In this edition of Governor Talks, APD Director Krishna Srinivasan will be joined by Thailand’s Minister of Finance, Ekniti Nitithanprapas, for a fireside discussion on Thailand’s economic outlook and policy priorities. The conversation will explore how the government is responding to higher energy prices, its vision for domestic policies to safeguard macroeconomic stability and reinvigorate growth, as well as Thailand’s role in ASEAN trade and financial integration to support more resilient and sustainable growth across the region. The discussion will also provide an opportunity to highlight Thailand’s priorities as it prepares to host the 2026 IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok.
Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
Governments are facing growing demands from citizens to deliver high-quality public services. This is happening in the context of limited fiscal space, shrinking official financing, and rising spending needs linked to crisis responses, defense, demographics, and development. With limited room to raise revenues or expand financing, policymakers increasingly need to focus on how to make better use of existing public spending, ensuring that public outlays are efficient, adequate, and sustainable. The seminar will discuss how countries are addressing this challenge in practice, and what lessons can be drawn on how to spend better.
Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
The war in the Middle East is likely to have significant impact not only within the region but also across the global economy. These developments underscore the necessity for both regional and global policymakers to adapt proactively to evolving geopolitical risks and ensure resilience to future shocks. MENA policymakers will need to reevaluate and potentially overhaul their diversification strategies, particularly regarding their dependence on energy markets and established trade routes to improve their resilience to repeated bouts of conflict. This seminar is designed to initiate a substantive discussion on how the current war in the Middle East is changing MENA policymakers’ policy priorities and economic visions, and what this means for the global economy.
