Launch of the IMF’s Fiscal Monitor 2010.
Participation in this meeting is free of charge. A sandwich lunch (€6) will be served before the event, from 12.30 onwards.
Many governments have outlined their plans over the next few years to help reduce their countries’ deficits and improve prospects for long-term economic growth. Some countries have already begun to cut back, and by next year nine out of ten will be reducing their deficits, the IMF says in the new issue of its Fiscal Monitor. The IMF said the current pace strikes the right balance between reassuring financial markets concerned about mounting government debt, and avoiding an abrupt withdrawal of support for the fragile global recovery. The pace of spending cutbacks is different for countries depending on both the strength of pre-crisis government finances and the amount of financial market pressures they face. Countries with higher deficits in 2009, or that are facing higher borrowing costs, are adjusting faster than others. Many countries’ deficits have fallen in the past year, mostly as a result of improved economic conditions, including lower needs to support the financial sector, and collectively countries’ deficits are projected to decline to 6 and 5 percent of GDP in 2010 and 2011 respectively, from 6¾ percent in 2009, according to the IMF. However public debt ratios are still rising, government financing needs continue to be high in advanced economies, and risks remain.
The Fiscal Monitor was launched in 2009 to survey and analyze the latest public finance developments, update fiscal implications of the crisis and medium-term fiscal projections, and assess policies to put public finances on a sustainable footing.
The Fiscal Monitor is prepared twice a year by the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department. The Monitor’s projections are based on the same database used for the April 2010 WEO and GFSR. The fiscal projections for individual countries have been prepared by IMF desk economists, and, in line with the WEO guidelines, assume that announced policies will be implemented