The Annual Report 2006 to the Board of Governors reviews the IMF’s activities and policies during the financial year (May 1, 2005, through April 30, 2006). The main sections cover the Fund’s Medium-Term Strategy; country, global, and regional surveillance; strengthening surveillance and crisis...

This paper focuses on concerns over wages, jobs, and future prospects are real and pressing for those who are not well equipped to thrive in this new world. History clearly tells us that closing borders or increasing protectionism is not the way to go. Many countries have tried this route, and...

Against a backdrop of declining oil prices, sharp variations in exchange rates, and market volatility, global growth remains uneven. The prospect of a new mediocre lingers as medium-term forecasts have been marked down since the last GPA. Promoting balanced, sustained growth requires an...

The global economy is gaining momentum, but further progress hinges on policies to support the recovery, lift productivity growth, and enhance resilience. Against the background of rapid technological progress, a cooperative multilateral framework for trade and financial integration has served...

Aid for trade can support countries trying to further benefit from the expanding global market place by helping to address poorly performing infrastructure and institutions. Needless to say, good policies also matter: trade liberalization, improving incentives for private investment in trade,...

The aim of this paper is to address the implications of Global Value Chains (GVCs) for the Fund's surveillance work. The paper first draws on the World Input-Output Database (WIOD) to document the dynamics of trade linkages between countries and regions through GVCs and its impact on the real...

This paper takes stock of unconventional monetary policies (UMP) and their impact so far, and looks ahead towards exit and prospects for policy coordination. It synthesizes earlier staff work on UMP,1 the findings of a substantial and growing academic and central banking literature, as well as...