Chapter News

14 Apr
Chapter News, News

IMF | War Darkens Global Economic Outlook and Reshapes Policy

Blog | The Middle East conflict halted growth momentum. The right policies and stronger global cooperation are needed to contain the damage.   Despite major trade disruptions and policy uncertainty, last year ended on an upbeat note. The private sector adapted to a changing business environment, while powerful offsets came from lower US tariffs than originally announced, some fiscal support, and favorable financial conditions coupled with strong productivity gains and a tech boom. Despite some downside risks, the momentum was...

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14 Apr
Chapter News, News, Trade & TTIP Related

European Council | Council and European Parliament Strike Deal to Protect EU’s Steel Industry from Global Overcapacity

Today, the Council presidency and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on a regulation aimed at addressing the negative trade-related effects of global overcapacity on the EU steel market. The regulation will introduce a new framework to protect the EU steel sector from global excess production and trade diversion, while ensuring that the measure remains compatible with the EU’s international trade obligations and sufficiently flexible for economic operators, including downstream industries. It will replace the current EU steel safeguard...

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13 Apr
Chapter News, News

European Commission | Commission consults Member States on proposal for a Temporary Crisis Framework

The European Commission is gathering the views of Member States on a draft proposal for a State aid Temporary Crisis Framework to support the EU economy in the context of the Middle East crisis, as announced on 13 April 2026 by President Ursula von der Leyen. The draft proposal is based on Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, which allows aid to develop specific economic sectors also in view of specific unexpected economic risks. The Commission is consulting Member States...

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10 Apr
Chapter News, News, Trade & TTIP Related

IMF | Cushioning the Middle East War Shock

Speech by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva at the 2026 Spring Meetings in Washington, DC Good morning. A resilient world economy is being tested again by the now-paused war in the Middle East. The conflict has caused considerable hardship around the globe. My heart goes out to all people affected by this war and all wars. When we welcome ministers and central bank governors to our Spring Meetings next week, our focus will be on how best to weather this latest shock and...

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07 Apr
Chapter News, News

ECB | Europe’s Fossil Fuel Dependence Poses Risks to Price Stability

Blog | Europe’s energy dependence increasingly complicates the task of maintaining price stability. Meeting the continent’s clean‑energy targets would weaken the link between volatile global markets and domestic prices. Crucially, the tools to make this transition are already within reach. Europe’s energy dependence has become one of the critical vulnerabilities of our economy. Recent energy price shocks have transferred vast resources out of Europe, prompted emergency interventions and strained public finances. These costs are real, recurring and largely wasted. Energy policy...

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07 Apr
Chapter News, News

World Bank | Joint Statement by the Heads of the International Energy Agency, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank Group

 The Heads of the International Energy Agency, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank Group have agreed to form a coordination group to maximize their institutions’ response to the energy and economic impacts of the war in the Middle East. They issued the following joint statement: The Middle East war has caused major disruptions to lives and livelihoods in the region and triggered one of the largest supply shortages in global energy market history. The impact is substantial, global, and highly...

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06 Apr
Chapter News, News, Trade & TTIP Related

IMF | Global Imbalance: Old Questions, New Answers?

Blog | Widening global current account imbalances are best addressed by simultaneous domestic policy adjustments. Industrial policy and tariffs offer a costly fix with unreliable effects on imbalances. Global current account imbalances are widening again, reversing a decade of steady decline following the global financial crisis. History suggests a clear risk: widening imbalances have often been accompanied by concentrated and lower-quality growth, triggered sectoral dislocations across trading partners, and preceded financial crises or abrupt reversals of capital flows. With the...

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02 Apr
Chapter News, News

ECB |How Banks Are Adjusting to Declining Reserves

As the Eurosystem normalises its balance sheet, central bank reserves – banks’ most liquid asset – keep declining. This post examines how banks adapt to lower levels of reserves and explains why take-up in the Eurosystem’s standard refinancing operations (SROs) is expected to increase.   Central bank reserves have almost halved from a peak of €4.9 trillion in 2022 to €2.6 trillion in early 2026 (Chart 1a). While still abundant, they are unevenly spread across banks. This implies that, as the Eurosystem...

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01 Apr
Chapter News, News

European Commission | Questions and Answers on the EU ETS Market Stability Reserve

What is the Commission proposing to change in the EU ETS Market Stability Reserve? The Commission is proposing to stop the automatic invalidation of ETS allowances held in the Market Stability Reserve (MSR) above 400 million. Instead of being cancelled, these allowances will be retained in the reserve. This strengthens the MSR's role as a buffer, improving its ability to respond to future market developments, including situations of supply tightness or excessive price volatility, while preserving the system's rules-based design. Why is the Commission...

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31 Mar
Chapter News, News

OECD | Global Economic Outlook Remains Robust but has Weakened Amid Energy Shock and Geopolitical Risks

The resilience of the global economy is being tested by the evolving conflict in the Middle East, which has generated new inflationary pressures while creating significant uncertainty, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Outlook. Global growth was steady heading into 2026, supported by the strength of technology-related production, lower effective tariffs on US imports and the momentum carried over from 2025. The energy supply shock following the onset of the conflict in the Middle East is expected to significantly weigh...

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