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OECD | G20 GDP Growth Slows Slightly to 0.7% in the Second Quarter of 2026

GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in the G20 area grew by 0.7% in the second quarter of 2026, slightly down from 0.8% in the previous quarter, according to provisional estimates (Figure 1). This reflected a mixed picture across G20 countries for which data were available, with most recording a slowdown. Among G20 economies with available data, the contraction in Saudi Arabia deepened, with GDP falling by 4.8% in Q2 2026, following a 1.4% decline in Q1. This mainly reflected a sharp...

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ECB | A New Age of Capital: Growth, Sovereignty and AI

Speech by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, at “Hofburg im Dialog – Economy, Europe, Resilience” in Vienna, Austria Vienna, 14 September 2026 Let me begin with a story that starts in this city. In this country, the years before 1873 have a name: the “Gründerzeit”, or “founders’ era”. The old city walls had come down and the Ringstrasse was rising where they had stood. Railways were pushing out across the empire. New banks and joint stock companies were being founded by the...

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IMF | Monetary Policy with Supply Shocks and High Debt

Remarks by Kristalina Georgieva, IMF Managing Director at the Bank for International Settlement Dear Fabio, dear Pablo, dear governors—thank you for inviting me here to share a few thoughts on the challenges faced by central banks as our stewards of monetary policy. Over the past 20 years, we have seen the Great Moderation give way to the global financial crisis, followed by a long spell at the effective lower bound, followed by a succession of large shocks, from the pandemic to the...

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European Commission | The EU’s Plan to Grow Innovation in Europe

Europe has plenty of world-class research, talent and creativity. However, too often ideas originating in Europe are turned into economic success by others, elsewhere. This is because European innovators face barriers here and find it difficult to bring their ideas to life. As a result, the Commission proposed a new European innovation act to help Europe's most innovative ideas be developed, financed and scaled up in Europe. To strengthen the EU innovation system, the proposal will address two main challenges....

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IMF | A World Seeking Balance

Surpluses and deficits reflect deeper choices about saving and investment across interconnected economies. More than 80 years ago, John Maynard Keynes centered his work on the persistence of global imbalances. The great economist tried to resolve what he described as the “secular international problem” at the Bretton Woods conference in 1944 through an international clearinghouse. But the conference’s final agreement included only a weaker set of remedies. Concern about imbalances has waxed and waned in the decades since, but has returned to the forefront...

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European Commission | Gas Coordination Group: No Immediate Security of Supply Risk

Despite lower gas storage levels compared to previous years, the Member States and the Commission consider there is no immediate risk for security of gas supply in the EU. In a meeting of the Gas Coordination Group (GCG) this afternoon, experts from the Commission and Member States confirmed that while the situation on global energy markets remains exceptional and requires close monitoring, it also differs significantly from that of 2021/2022. Today, the EU is better prepared, thanks to increased...

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ECB | Big Tech, Big Debt: When US Tech Giants Tap the Euro Area Bond Market

Blog | US tech giants are increasingly tapping the euro area bond market to fund their investments. The ECB Blog investigates the consequences for this market and the potential for these developments to reshape it. The infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI) requires huge investments. Think of the gigantic data centres and the massive electricity consumption to power them. US tech giants, including Google, Amazon and Microsoft, operate massive cloud and AI infrastructure. That is why these companies, known as hyperscalers,...

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European Council | EU Customs: Council Greenlights Landmark Reform

The Council today gave its final approval for an ambitious overhaul of the EU customs framework – the most comprehensive reform of its kind in decades. The updated legislation gives the Union a more modern toolbox and innovative new instruments to better facilitate global trade, especially in e-commerce, collect customs duties more efficiently and tighten controls on non-compliant, dangerous or unsafe goods. Managing the rise of e-commerce  The updated union customs code clarifies that non-EU e-commerce platforms will be considered the goods’ importer when selling into the EU and are therefore responsible for ensuring...

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OECD | G20 Trade Accelerated in Q2 2026, Boosted Primarily by Merchandise Imports and Services Trade

G20 merchandise trade accelerated in Q2 2026. Measured in current US dollars, quarter-on-quarter import growth rose markedly to 6.7%, from the 5.2% growth recorded in the previous quarter, reflecting strong increases in a number of G20 economies. G20 merchandise exports growth remained broadly flat at 5.9%. Preliminary estimates also point to an acceleration in services trade, with exports rising by 3.4% and imports by 2.5%, as compared to 2.0% and 1.5% respectively in Q1 2026 (Figures 1 and 3).1 In...

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IMF | Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva’s Statement at the Conclusion of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Asheville, North Carolina

 Asheville, N.C., United States: International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva delivered the following remarks at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Asheville, North Carolina: “I would like to thank the Government of the United States for hosting this week’s G20 meeting, and Secretary Bessent and Chairman Warsh for their leadership in delivering a focused discussion on key global economic priorities. During our discussions, there was a strong convergence of views around the importance of lifting potential growth...

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