Understanding the drivers of the current downturn in commercial real estate (CRE) can provide insights into the outlook for the market and potential spillovers to the financial system and wider economy. The CRE market is facing the simultaneous effects of higher interest rates, falling demand due to a structural shift towards remote working and rising costs from higher sustainability-linked capex requirements. Understanding the role of each factor in driving prices and firms’ profits can provide some insight into how financial...

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By Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, IMF | Good morning, and welcome. Let me start by thanking Bert and the Statistics Department for organizing the 12th IMF Statistical Forum on ‘Measuring the Implications of AI on the Economy.’ You always choose a topic that is timely and important—and also fascinating! It has been just two years since generative AI emerged from the lab and became a tool that anyone with internet access can use. We still feel the excitement of something...

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Economic growth remains fragile, while concerns about global trade outlook add to geopolitical and policy uncertainty High valuations and risk concentration make markets more susceptible to sudden corrections Policy uncertainty, weak fiscal fundamentals in some countries and sluggish potential growth raise concerns about sovereign debt sustainability Credit risk vulnerabilities in some euro area households and firms could lead to weaker asset quality for banks and non-bank financial intermediaries if downside risks to growth materialise The European Central Bank (ECB)...

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By Luis de Guindos | Meeting the EU’s climate neutrality targets calls for deep structural changes and significant private funding, requiring a healthy financial system. That’s why we’ve tested how resilient banks, investment funds and insurers are to stresses arising during the green transition. ECB Vice-President Luis de Guindos explains the findings. Achieving a carbon-neutral European Union by 2050 will require a resilient financial sector to provide the funding for the necessary investment. In other words, the financial system needs...

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The Council today adopted new rules on clearing services that revise the European market infrastructure regulation and directive (EMIR). The new rules aim to make the EU clearing landscape more attractive and resilient, to support the EU’s open strategic autonomy and to preserve the EU’s financial stability. The European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) lays down rules on over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, central counterparties (CCPs) and trade repositories. The new rules improve EU clearing services by streamlining and shortening procedures, improving consistency between rules and strengthening CCP supervision. In...

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Speech by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, at "Les Essentiels des Bernardins", Paris It is both an honour and a privilege to address you at the esteemed Collège des Bernardins, a site rich in history and intellectual tradition. As I stand in this restored medieval college, I am reminded of the profound role that monastic institutions have played in spreading Christian values throughout Europe. In these environments, ideals of social responsibility flourished through communal living. The principle of “ora et labora”...

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Today, the Council gave the final green light to a regulation establishing the first EU-level certification framework for permanent carbon removals, carbon farming and carbon storage in products. This voluntary framework will facilitate and encourage high-quality carbon removal and soil emission reduction activities in the EU, as a complement to sustained emission reductions.   Carbon removals and soil emission reductions The regulation will be the first step in introducing a comprehensive certification framework for carbon removals and soil emission reductions into EU legislation. It will help the EU to achieve its...

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Combined measure allows for a deeper understanding of how wealth distribution affects the overall health of economies Blog post by Henning Ahnert, Francien Berry, Darja Milic, Jorrit Zwijnenburg | Economists monitor income disparities because they can harden into more structural wealth inequalities that concern policymakers. Wider wealth gaps may also impact monetary policy transmission and financial stability. Accordingly, the European System of Central Banks developed new experimental Distributional Wealth Accounts for the euro area and most European Union countries. Combining wealth information drawn from...

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Reduced energy excise tax rates in many countries in response to the recent energy crisis led to lower implicit carbon prices in 2023, but the development of new emissions trading schemes should lead to a greater share of emissions being priced in the next five years, according to a new OECD report.  Pricing Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2024: Gearing Up to Bring Emissions Down tracks how emissions trading systems, carbon taxes, fuel and electricity excise taxes, and subsidies that lower pre-tax prices...

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