The pandemic has hit small and medium enterprises particularly hard, partly because they are predominant in some contact-intensive sectors like hotels, restaurants, and entertainment. As a result, many advanced economies risk experiencing a wave of liquidations that could destroy millions of jobs, damage the financial system, and weaken an already fragile economic recovery. Policymakers should take novel and swift action to alleviate this wave. 'Compared to past crises, this time around there is a clearer case for solvency support by governments.' Abundant...

Washington, DC / Brussels: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today received the European Union (EU)’s contribution of SDR 141 million (equivalent to €170 million or US$199 million) to the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT), which provides grants for debt service relief to countries hit by catastrophic events, including public health disasters such as COVID-19. Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships, said: “Through this contribution to the CCRT, Team Europe continues to stand in solidarity with its most vulnerable partners. In...

Opinion article by Eurogroup President, Paschal Donohoe | Comparison is inevitable at moments of great challenge. The wisdom of former US president Theodore Roosevelt that “comparison is the thief of joy”, comes to mind in contrasts between the size of stimulus packages and the strength of economic forecasts. Comparisons diminish the significant and historic efforts taken to boost our economies, and to develop and rollout vaccines at unprecedented speed. The 27 countries of the EU have stood together, ensuring that those...

Twelve no or only nominal tax jurisdictions1 began their first tax information exchanges today under the Forum on Harmful Tax Practice’s (FHTP) global standard on substantial activities. The standard ensures that mobile business income can no longer be parked in a low tax jurisdiction without the core business functions being carried out from that jurisdiction and that the countries where the parent entities and beneficial owners are tax resident get access through regular exchanges of information. These new annual exchanges cover...

The three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA - ESAs) issued today their first joint risk assessment report of 2021. The report highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic continues to weigh heavily on short-term recovery prospects. It also highlights a number of vulnerabilities in the financial markets and warns of possible further market corrections. Macroeconomic conditions improved in the second half of 2020, supported by ongoing fiscal and monetary policy efforts, but the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic since the last...

Blog post by Philip R. Lane, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB | In this blog post, I will provide an overview of the inflation outlook, based on the latest ECB staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area. To set the scene, I first review the current economic situation before turning to the analysis of inflation dynamics during the pandemic. Previewing the main messages, my assessment is that the volatility of inflation during 2020-2021 can be largely attributed to...

Charles Michel, President of the European Council | Good afternoon, President Biden. Thank you for accepting our invitation. We are delighted to welcome you today. It's not common practice for the European Council to host foreign guests at our regular meetings. The last time was 11 years ago.  It was your good friend, Barack Obama. In Washington, it might not be clear what the European Council does. As you know, the European Council is the gathering of the 27 EU Heads of...

The European Commission has disbursed €13 billion to six EU Member States in the sixth instalment of financial support under the SURE instrument. This is the third disbursement in 2021. As part of today's operations, Czechia has received €1 billion, Belgium €2.2 billion, Spain €4.06 billion, Ireland €2.47 billion, Italy €1.87 billion and Poland €1.4 billion. This is the first time that Ireland has received funding under the instrument. The other five EU countries have already benefitted from loans...