Policy makers will need to strengthen policies to address current challenges and help lead the world economy to recovery, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a speech at the Council of the Americas. “I am calling on policymakers to make a policy upgrade to address the current challenges,” Lagarde said. Lagarde, speaking ahead of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings that take place October 9-11 in Lima, Peru, stated that the world is at a “difficult and complex juncture.” The prospect of...

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What does the Capital Markets Union have to do with infrastructure in Europe? One of the goals of the Capital Markets Union is to help mobilise capital in Europe and channel it to the infrastructure and long term sustainable projects that Europe needs to create jobs. By amending the rules on how much capital insurance companies need to hold, the Commission is giving them incentives to invest for the long-term in infrastructure. These changes will free up millions of euros...

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The European Commission is launching the Capital Markets Union Action Plan today to help build a true single market for capital across the 28 EU Member States. As part of the Juncker Commission priority to boost jobs, growth and investment across the EU, the Capital Markets Union (CMU), a key pillar of the Investment Plan, aims to tackle investment shortages head-on by increasing and diversifying the funding sources for Europe’s businesses and long-term projects. Also published today are the first...

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Overall money market turnover in the second quarter of 2015 fell to the level of the same quarter of 2012, with a year-on-year decline of 12% to €69 trillion (compared with a revised 7% year-on-year rise in the 2nd quarter of 2014) Decline especially noticeable in the largest market segment, the secured market, and in the unsecured market The switching of funds into longer maturities on account of value or regulatory considerations contributed to the decline in turnover Perceived deterioration in liquidity...

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The European Union as a whole is confronted with an ageing population. In 2014, the proportion of persons aged 65 or over reached 18.5% in the EU and it is projected to further increase in the future to almost 30% by 2080. In particular, the proportion of persons aged 80 or over among the total population is expected to more than double, from just over 5% in 2014 to more than 12% by 2080. This demographic trend confronts the EU...

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The European Commission has launched a public consultation to help identify ways to simplify the Value-Added Tax (VAT) payments on cross-border e-commerce transactions in the EU. The Commission is seeking to receive a wide range of views from business owners and other interested parties before it drafts its legislative proposals on the topic in 2016, as part of the Digital Single Market strategy. Andrus Ansip, European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, said: "We promised to support companies, and especially...

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NEWARK – A consortium of academic, policy and business organizations led by the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has been awarded a “Getting to Know Europe” grant from the Delegation of the European Union (EU) that is designed to boost economies on both sides of the Atlantic through the expansion of cooperation and trade. Over the next two years, NJIT, through its New Jersey Innovation Institute, and its partners will organize forums on topics of mutual interest to EU...

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The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today completed the eighth review of Cyprus’s economic adjustment program supported by the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement. The completion of the review enables the disbursement of SDR 99 million (about €126 million), which brings total disbursements under the program to SDR 693 million (about €882 million). Completion of the ninth review would be expected to take place before the end of the year. The three-year, SDR 891 million (about €1...

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