By Pauline Avril, Maciej Grodzicki, Lukas Jürgensmeier and Alessandro Ricci Banks have bought back over €60 billion of their own shares since 2020, which is a sign of the industry’s confidence. However, share buybacks can also reduce the capital banks have available for potential crises. This blog post examines how euro area banks’ share prices reacted to these buybacks. Share buybacks indicate that a bank’s management is confident in its financial soundness and future prospects. Also, buybacks are subject to approval...

Read more

Executive Summary: Economic growth in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) has slowed but the region has remained resilient amid continued global and regional challenges. Regional gross domestic product is likely to grow by 2.4 percent in real terms this year, down from 3.7 percent in 2024, because of a weaker pace of expansion in the Russian Federation. Excluding Russia, which accounts for about 40 percent of the region’s output, growth is likely to remain little changed at about 3.3 percent...

Read more

Today the College of Commissioners approved our Pact for the Mediterranean. For millennia, the Mediterranean has been a bridge between continents. For people, goods and ideas. These exchanges have shaped who we are and how we live. The truth is that Europe and the Mediterranean cannot exist without each other. And today, the future of our two shores is more connected than ever before. In an increasingly competitive and contested global economy, our economic ties with our Southern neighbours...

Read more

Without timely and consistent implementation, we undermine the resilience of the financial system, leaving it vulnerable to future shocks This letter was submitted to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) ahead of the G20’s meeting on 15-16 October 2025. Andrew Bailey underscores the importance of cooperation and multilateral institutions to address the pressures from the challenging global environment. Amid elevated risks and uncertainty, Mr Bailey highlights the need for implementing global standards and remaining vigilant to emerging threats. To facilitate...

Read more

By: Tobias Adrian Policymakers should strengthen oversight of nonbank financial intermediaries, whose increasing interconnectedness with banks could exacerbate adverse shocks Stretched asset valuations and pressures in core sovereign bond markets are keeping financial stability risks elevated amid heightened economic uncertainty. These vulnerabilities could be amplified by the growth of nonbank financial institutions—through their growing importance as market makers, liquidity providers and intermediaries in private credit, real estate, and crypto markets. As we detail in our new Global Financial Stability Report, stress testing shows that...

Read more

Eurogroup President and Minister for Finance of Ireland, Paschal Donohoe, will represent the euro area at the Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group in Washington, DC, this week. As President of the Eurogroup, Minister Donohoe will participate in the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ meeting as well as in a range of IMF meetings. The Annual Meetings provide an opportunity for Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from around the world along with leading figures...

Read more

By: Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas Dialing down uncertainty, reducing vulnerabilities, and investing in innovation can help deliver durable economic gains In April, the United States shook global trade norms by announcing sweeping tariffs. Given the complexity and fluidity of the moment, our April report offered a range of estimates for the growth downgrade, from modest to significant, depending on the ultimate severity of the trade shock. Six months on, where are we? The good news is that the growth downgrade is at the modest...

Read more

By: Era Dabla-Norris, Davide Furceri, Zsuzsa Munkacsi, Galen Sher Spending more efficiently and reallocating public funds toward investment and innovation can be a powerful growth strategy Over the past two decades, Rwanda achieved remarkable progress. Nearly every household now has access to mobile phones and primary education. More than half the population has electricity, and one in five has clean drinking water and sanitation services. Rwandans consume three times more electricity and live 20 years longer. These gains came from relatively modest increases in investment,...

Read more

The European labour market remains resilient, with low unemployment levels, despite a decline in employment growth, according to the European Commission's latest report. In 2024, job growth decreased to 0.8%, compared to 1.2% in 2023, as a result of economic pressure and geopolitical instability. Nevertheless, the unemployment rate in Europe remains near its record low. Despite welcomed progress over the last decade which saw certain sectors experience significant rises in pay, one in five workers remain in low-paying jobs. In 2024,...

Read more

The FSB's 2024 AI report identified several vulnerabilities, including third-party dependencies, market correlations, cyber risks, and challenges in model risk and governance, which may have implications for financial stability Since the FSB’s 2024 report on the financial stability implications of artificial intelligence (AI), there have been significant developments in the AI ecosystem. These include advancements in AI models, new companies offering more flexible options, more competition in hardware, and global technology providers controlling more parts of the AI supply chain. These developments...

Read more