WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund said on Monday the relaxation of the euro zone’s fiscal rules and support from the European Central Bank and the European Stability Mechanism is critical to a strong regional response to the coronavirus pa... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China’s economy is beginning to show some signs of normalization following the full-blown shock caused by the coronavirus, but stark risks remain, International Monetary Fund officials said in a blog on the economic impact of the pandemi... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund estimates that Kuwait’s financing needs will amount to some $180 billion over the next six years given the Gulf state’s “modest” fiscal measures and expectations of lower oil prices. Kuwait said earlier this mo... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran would need oil priced at $194.6 a barrel to balance its budget next year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said. Hurt by tighter U.S. sanctions, Iran – a key member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) – i... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it is assessing an emergency reform package announced by Lebanon’s government last week and stressed reforms should be implemented urgently given the country’s high debt levels and fiscal deficits. L... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China’s top central banker said on Saturday that potential escalation of trade tensions and policy uncertainty were the major risk factors facing the world economy, and market forces were keeping China’s yuan at an appropriate level. Yi ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The collateral damage of the United States’ trade wars is being felt from the fjords of Iceland to the auto factories of Japan. Central bank governors and finance ministers traded grim tales of suffering economies at the International Mo... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Facebook Inc (FB.O), facing growing skepticism about its digital currency project Libra, on Sunday said the initiative could use cryptocurrencies based on national currencies such as the dollar, instead of the synthetic one it initially ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Greece is looking to strike a deal this weekend to repay early about half of the loans it received from the International Monetary Fund, in a bid to lower the euro zone member’s burden of debt servicing, a senior official said on Friday.... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An internal European Central Bank model indicates the euro zone’s economic growth could slow further in the second quarter, suggesting the projected recovery may be delayed even further, two sources familiar with the discussion said on F... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday he may travel to China, a move that could ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies, as international policymakers acknowledged Beijing needs to change its trade pract... More »
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde (L) and Indonesian President Joko Widodo leave Tanah Abang market following their visit in Jakarta, Indonesia February 26, 2018. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside JAKARTA (Reuters) – International Monetary... More »
International Monetary Fund headquarters building is seen during the IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Washington, U.S., October 14, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s economy is starting to recover more rapidly from years of international sanc... More »
FILE PHOTO: A worker looks on as a drill breaks the pavement on a construction site next to Barangaroo building complex in Sydney’s central business district (CBD) Australia, November 9, 2017. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s economy is expe... More »
Wages and inflation in the 19-country euro zone will eventually rise but more slowly than earlier thought, requiring continued patience from policymakers, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Saturday. More »
FILE PHOTO: A man rides his motorcycle past shipping containers at the Port of Shanghai February 14, 2011. The International Monetary Fund kept its growth forecasts for the world economy unchanged for this year and next, although it revised up growth expectati... More »
The International Monetary Fund logo is seen during the IMF/World Bank spring meetings in Washington, U.S., April 21, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas Overhauling land legislation will be key for Ukraine’s next review by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and shou... More »
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Thursday it would be possible to develop the euro zone’s European Stability Mechanism (ESM) rescue fund into a European monetary fund soon. More »
A security personnel stands next to International Monetary Fund logo at IMF headquarters in Washington, U.S., April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas World finance leaders are gathering on U.S. President Donald Trump’s home turf on Thursday to try to nudge his sti... More »
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde delivers remarks at the Atlantic Council in Washington, U.S., February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Sunday that she... More »
IMF official Chris Jarvis at a news conference in Cairo, Egypt August 11, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has welcomed Egypt’s decision to float its pound currency on Thursday, it said in a statement, adding that the de... More »
JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon speaks at a Remain in the EU campaign event attended by Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne (not shown) at JP Morgan’s corporate centre in Bournemouth, southern Britain, June 3, 2016. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez Britain’s ... More »
Greek and EU flags flutter at an open air kiosk in Athens, Greece, June 22, 2015. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis Euro zone finance ministers are likely to approve on Monday the disbursement of much or all of the money from the 2.8 billion euro ($3.14 billion) tranche... More »
A Japanese flag flutters atop the Bank of Japan building in Tokyo, Japan, September 21, 2016. REUTERS/Toru Hanai The International Monetary Fund said on Monday that a new monetary policy framework adopted by the Bank of Japan marked “progress”, but stuck to it... More »
CAIRO Egypt has reached a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund after nearly two weeks of talks to secure a $12 billion lending program and will make an announcement on Thursday, two government sources said. The sources said no deal had be... More »
LONDON Economists from the International Monetary Fund have urged the European Central Bank to concentrate on asset purchases rather than cutting its already negative interest rates again, if it needs to stimulate the euro zone economy again. A blog published ... More »
DUBAI The International Monetary Fund said it was encouraged by the efforts of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab oil exporters to repair damage to their state finances as low crude prices slash export revenues. “I do see in a number of countries action to addre... More »
WASHINGTON The U.S. Senate on Friday ratified reforms to boost the representation of emerging economies at the International Monetary Fund as part of a budget bill that will clear the way for new industrial powerhouses like China and India to have more clout a... More »
SHANGHAI/NEW YORK When the International Monetary Fund agrees on Monday to add the Chinese yuan to its reserves basket in the biggest shake-up in more than three decades, the IMF can afford itself a congratulatory nod. By acknowledging the yuan as a major glob... More »
LIMA, Peru A senior International Monetary Fund official has urged Japan to go ahead with a sales tax hike scheduled for April 2017 to maintain its long-term fiscal credibility. Mitsuhiro Furusawa, the IMF’s deputy managing director, warned on Sunday that flex... More »
PARIS France is on the right path with reforms the Socialist government has undertaken but needs to go farther, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said on Sunday. Lagarde, who was finance minister in the government of conservative former presi... More »
ATHENS/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Germany rejected a Greek proposal for a six-month extension to its euro zone loan agreement on Thursday, saying it was “not a substantial solution” because it did not commit Athens to stick to the conditions of its international bai... More »
LILLE, France (Reuters) – Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former IMF chief tipped to become French president before a New York hotel maid accused him of sexual assault in 2011, went on trial in France on Monday in a separate case of alleged procuring of prostitute... More »
(Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund has held its first consultation with an external advisory group of Islamic finance industry bodies, as regulators across the globe seek to address structural issues in the sector. Islamic finance, with its core marke... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A much-needed pruning of banks across the world could stifle lending and dampen economic recovery, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday. To boost profits, banks need to raise prices in certain business lines, pull out of oth... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund cut its global economic growth forecasts for the third time this year on Tuesday, warning of weaker growth in core euro zone countries, Japan and big emerging markets like Brazil. In its flagship World Eco... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The global economy faces a growing risk from big financial market bets that could quickly unravel if investors get spooked by geopolitical tensions or a shift in U.S. interest rate policy, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesda... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Christine Lagarde urged Germany to increase investments to help spur the euro zone’s flagging economic recovery, adding that the bloc as a whole needed to make more structural reforms. With the euro zone... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone finance ministers are likely to discuss in September whether to allow Ireland to repay its more expensive bailout loans from the International Monetary Fund before paying back the euro zone bailout fund, a euro zone official said... More »
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – The euro zone’s fiscal stance strikes the right balance between reducing debt and bolstering demand, the International Monetary Fund said in a statement on Thursday. The euro zone’s overall government deficit fell to the European Union l... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China aims to cut the proportion of cash that commercial banks must keep with the People’s Bank of China, the banking regulator said on Friday, signalling further monetary loosening although the IMF and World Bank say the economy is doing f... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde ruled herself out of the running for the job of European Commission president on Friday, saying she intended to complete her term in charge of the International Monetary Fund. “I’m not a candidate and ... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Monday he sees no signs at all of a deflation spiral in Europe and ECB President Mario Draghi had made a convincing case at the recent IMF meeting that Europe’s low inflation held no deflati... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Global finance officials appear inclined to give the United States more time to endorse a series of long-delayed International Monetary Fund reforms aimed at giving more weight to emerging economy nations, rather than trying to implement... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Top banks in the euro zone benefited from an implicit taxpayer subsidy of $90 billion to $300 billion in 2012 due to ongoing state support which makes them “too important to fail,” the International Monetary Fund said in a report on Mond... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The euro zone will assure the International Monetary Fund in coming months that it will continue to bankroll Greece, enabling the IMF to disburse its share of international aid to Athens, a senior European Union official said on Friday. Pr... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund signed off on Friday on Cyprus’s progress in meeting the conditions of its bailout program, giving the euro zone country another $114 million. Cyprus has to comply with the conditions of the bailout progra... More »
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The Bank of Israel should gradually raise interest rates if its economy grows faster than expected and the shekel’s appreciation eases, the International Monetary Fund said, warning that low rates could fuel further house price increases.... More »
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday it will postpone sending a review of Romania’s new standby aid agreement to its executive board for approval after the country’s president refused to ratify it because of tax hikes. “We are ... More »
LISBON (Reuters) – Portugal is set to approve a 2014 budget on Tuesday, the last under its three-year EU/IMF bailout, but passing the measure is likely to trigger court challenges that could disrupt the country’s exit from the bailout program. As the last pre-... More »
DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland said on Thursday it would make a clean break from its EU/IMF bailout next month, forgoing a precautionary credit line that some of its European partners had wanted it to take. Its prime minister, Enda Kenny, said it was the right dec... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union is in advanced discussions with the International Monetary Fund on providing standby financing to Ukraine should the country come under economic pressure from Russia later this year, senior EU officials have told Reuters... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Central banks should be independent in setting monetary policy but they should also be tasked with monitoring financial market stability under political supervision, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) chief economist said. Olivier Blanc... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Top finance officials from the G20 leading economies looked set to keep their focus on the receding risk of a U.S. default at talks on Friday as hopes grew that Washington could soon clinch a stop-gap deal to ensure it can keep paying it... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund urged the European Union to quickly set up an agency that would close or salvage troubled banks across the continent as part of an effort to shed a mountain of bad debt impeding economic recovery. The reco... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund called on Turkey to tighten its monetary and fiscal policies to reduce its external imbalances, which have been exacerbated by capital outflows from emerging markets. “The market reappraisal of advanced ec... More »
MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund raised its 2013 economic growth forecast for Uruguay on Friday, but lowered its estimates for 2014, saying growth had “moderated to a more sustainable pace” after a decade of strong expansion. Citing robus... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – China’s recent economic data reinforce the International Monetary Fund’s forecast that the world’s second-largest economy will avoid a second-half slowdown and grow 7.75 percent this year, a fund official said on Thursday. Markus Rodlauer, de... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde urged euro zone governments on Tuesday to make quick progress on their proposed banking union, to put the bloc’s crisis definitively behind it. European efforts to construct a joint backstop... More »
ALPBACH, Austria (Reuters) – Major central banks’ reassurances that interest rates will stay low for some time are giving markets “a certain security”, a European Central Bank policymaker said on Thursday. Another European official, however, warned against com... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – Lending has picked up “modestly” in Vietnam this year and the country should grow slightly faster than projected earlier, the International Monetary Fund said. The IMF, in a statement issued on August 9 after a delegation visited Vietnam, sai... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Defying all predictions by the IMF, the European Commission and the bulk of private economists, President Francois Hollande is still banking on a turnaround in French unemployment by the end of the year. Not only that, he has upped the stakes... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said she is confident about Europe’s commitment to provide further debt relief to Greece if the debt-burdened euro zone country abides by the conditions of its bailout. “I have no reasons to believ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund on Monday approved a further 1.7 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in funds for Greece’s bailout program after completing the fourth review of the cash-strapped euro zone state. Greece last week adopted the las... More »
VILNIUS (Reuters) – The European Central Bank still has weapons in its arsenal to use if needed, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said on Thursday. “There is no question that monetary policy cannot be a substitute for everything else that ne... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – European Central Bank policymaker Joerg Asmussen rejected on Wednesday a call from the EU justice commissioner for the “troika” of the European Commission, ECB and International Monetary Fund to be dissolved. Commissioner Viviane Reding, ... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Greece secured a lifeline from the euro zone and the IMF on Monday but was told it must keep its promises on cutting public sector jobs and selling state assets to get all the cash. The 6.8 billion euro ($8.7 billion) deal, which spares Gr... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen told a German newspaper on Wednesday Greece had more to do to ensure a positive outcome to a review by its “troika” of international lenders, but said talk of debt write-downs was u... More »
BRUSSELS/ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece has three days to reassure Europe and the IMF that it can deliver on conditions attached to its bailout in order to receive its next tranche of aid, four euro zone officials said on Tuesday. The lenders are unhappy with progr... More »
LISBON (Reuters) – Portugal’s lenders from the European Union and IMF will visit Lisbon following the rejection by the constitutional court of some government austerity measures to tackle uncertainty created by the ruling, the finance ministry said on Monday. ... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades threatened to resign during a heated exchange with European Union and IMF officials over a rescue package for his country, a senior official taking part in the negotiations said on Sunday. Anastasiades ... More »
DUBLIN (Reuters) – The euro zone may need higher inflation in countries like Germany and lower interest rates across the bloc to ensure a sustained economic recovery brings palpable benefits, the head of the IMF said on Friday. Speaking during a visit to baile... More »
ATHENS (Reuters) – Officials from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund return to Athens on Sunday to assess Greece’s performance under a bailout plan as the government plays down the prospect of public sector job cuts. The heads of the “troik... More »
(Reuters) – The European Central Bank has rejected Ireland’s preferred solution to a dispute over the cost of servicing money borrowed to rescue a failed bank, EU sources familiar with the talks said on Saturday. Dublin wants to avoid having to pay 3.1 billion... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund clinched agreement on a new debt target for Greece on Monday in a breakthrough towards releasing an urgently needed tranche of loans to the near-bankrupt economy, officials sa... More »
BERLIN/ATHENS (Reuters) – International lenders failed for the second week to reach a deal to release emergency aid for Greece and will try again next Monday, but Germany signaled that significant divisions remain. Euro zone finance ministers, the Internationa... More »
BRUSSELS/ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s international lenders failed for the second week running to agree how to get the country’s debt down to a sustainable level and will have a third go in six days’ time. After nearly 12 hours of talks through the night during... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Greece’s international lenders agreed on Monday to give the country two more years to make the cuts demanded of it but the euro zone and IMF clashed over a longer-term target date to shrink the country’s debt pile. Euro zone finance minist... More »
MILAN/MADRID (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund called on the eve of a European Union summit for both Spain and Italy to seek euro zone assistance to draw a line under the bloc’s debt crisis, but Rome has rebuffed the idea and Madrid seems likely to a... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Spain on Friday said a European bond-buying plan was fully ready for use and that there was absolutely no political resistance from within the euro zone to a Spanish bailout request. The situation in Spain, which is considering seeking an aid... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Greece, Spain and the euro zone’s slow progress toward debt reform take centre stage at IMF meetings on Friday despite Europe’s best effort to remove itself from the spotlight. The International Monetary Fund recommended that some of Europe’s... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund urged European policymakers to deepen the financial and fiscal ties within the euro area with some urgency to restore sagging confidence in the global financial system. The IMF’s stark tone on the euro area deb... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund urged European policymakers to deepen the financial and fiscal ties within the euro area with some urgency to restore sagging confidence in the global financial system. In its semi-annual check on the world’s f... More »
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – Euro zone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund held a “thorough and robust” debate on Greece on Monday, but failed to make significant progress in deciding how best to get the country back on track with its bailout progr... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – The IMF cut its global growth forecast on Tuesday for the second time since April and warned U.S. and European policymakers that failure to fix their economic ills would prolong the slump. Global growth is too weak to bring down unemployment ... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – The euro zone has made much progress in battling its three-year old debt crisis with the tough reforms taken by hardest-hit countries particularly encouraging and it needs to keep up the momentum, Japan’s top financial diplomat said on Wednes... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The euro zone debt crisis is pushing the International Monetary Fund into new, and at times, uncomfortable territory. The global lender is preparing to monitor some of Europe’s largest economies possibly without its biggest weapon – mone... More »
JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming (Reuters) – Euro zone commitments to tackle the region’s two-year sovereign debt crisis have comforted financial markets but must now be translated into action or risk investor patience souring again, the International Monetary Fund said ... More »
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece is leaning towards issuing T-bills to plug a cash squeeze this month as resumption of its bailout funding hinges on a positive assessment by European Union and IMF inspectors, its deputy finance minister told Sunday’s Kathimerini news... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A veteran economist at the International Monetary Fund has accused the global lender of suppressing information on difficulties in dealing with the global financial meltdown and euro zone crisis. In a resignation letter to the IMF’s boar... More »
