IMF Podcasts

Capacity development is one of the IMF's best-kept secrets. Strong institutions are key to a country's long-term development, and a third of the IMF's operating budget goes toward helping governments build the institutional capacity they need to fulfill their development goals. Oral Williams heads the IMF Regional Capacity Development Center for Anglophone West Africa and is coauthor with economists Ralph Chami and Elorm Darkey of a study that shows a direct relationship between technical assistance and the improvement in tax revenues. In this podcast, Williams says providing technical assistance and training to governments means better living standards for more people. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3eiK4py

No country has been spared the effects of changing weather patterns but developing countries–and island states, in particular, are facing the brunt of climate change while not having contributed to its root causes. Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, and Madagascar's Finance Minister, Richard Randriamandranto, joined IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva to discuss the effects of natural disasters on their economies and how policies can be designed to help countries adapt to the new climate reality. The podcast is a compilation of excerpts from their discussion. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3hbeR9x Watch a webcast of the full event at IMF.org

With public finances stretched to the limit and the pandemic making things worse by the day, new IMF research looks at innovative ways to get the private sector more involved in financing Africa's development needs. Economist Luc Eyraud led the research. In this podcast, he says while fixing the business environment is a good place to start, sometimes it is simply not enough. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3wOSJHz Read the blog at: blogs.imf.org

There will be no durable end to the economic crisis until enough people around the world are vaccinated against Covid-19 and its variants to put the health crisis behind us. Economist Ruchir Agarwal and IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath have joined forces to come up with a plan that would make that happen. In this podcast, Agarwal says the return on investment for ending the pandemic could reach $9 trillion, one of the highest-return investments ever. Transcript: https://bit.ly/2Tzl6L6

When the apartheid regime ceded power following South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994, the economy was in shambles. Debt service costs as a share of GDP were crippling. Trevor Manuel—a veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle and appointed minister of finance—revamped the budgeting process and set a stringent deficit reduction target. By 2006, the economy was growing at its fastest pace in more than two decades. In this podcast, Manuel looks back at what drove the country's longest phase of economic growth and how he believes the ruling party he helped establish has lost its way. Read the Transcript. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3pDMLXp Look for Putting People First in F&D

Covid-19 has left government budgets across the globe scrambling for revenues and having to reassess their tax and spending policies. For some countries– especially those in conflict areas, spending on defense eats up precious resources that could otherwise go toward other forms of public spending like education, health and infrastructure. In this podcast, economist Sanjeev Gupta says keeping global tensions in check would have long-term economic benefits. Transcript Transcript link: https://bit.ly/3vAx1q8 Look for Military Spending in the Post-Pandemic Era in Finance and Development Magazine.

Society has long debated the morality of debt. In ancient times, debt was viewed in many cultures as sinful, with lending at interest especially repugnant. These concerns continue to influence perceptions of lending and the regulation of credit markets today. Nikita Aggarwal is a research associate at the Digital Ethics Lab at Oxford University's Internet Institute. In this podcast, Aggarwal says our increasingly online lives prove a valuable source of data for lenders and add new dimensions to debt's morality. Her article, The New Morality of Debt, is published in the March 2021 issue of Finance and Development Magazine. Transcript Transcript: http://traffic.libsyn.com/imfpodcast/Nikita_Aggarwal-transcript-IMF_Podcast.pdf

New IMF research shows that women with young children, mothers, particularly less educated ones, have been the most adversely affected group during the pandemic. Chrystia Freeland is Canada's Deputy Prime Minister and its first-ever female Finance Minister. In this podcast, Freeland and IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, discuss policies to help prevent the covid-19 pandemic from rolling back gains in women's economic opportunities, and how Canada has aligned its gender strategy with the budget process. Watch the webcast at IMF.org

Before the pandemic hit, 80 percent of corporate wealth was held by the top 10 percent of large companies richest in intangible assets like data, software, and intellectual property. In this podcast, Rana Foroohar says the concentration of wealth and power among Big Tech firms has grown exponentially over the course of the pandemic. Foroohar is Global Business Columnist and Associate Editor at the Financial Times. She was invited to speak at the Institute for Capacity Development about her book Don't be evil, which examines the implications for society of the growing influence of Silicon Valley tech giants in all aspects of the economy. Transcript Read more about building a better data economy in the March issue of Finance and Development Magazine: IMF.org/FandD Transcript: http://traffic.libsyn.com/imfpodcast/Rana_Foroohar-transcript-IMF_Podcast.pdf

While there are signs of a recovery in advanced economies, sub-Saharan Africa is still in the throes of an unprecedented health and economic crisis. The second wave of COVID-19 infections was worse than the first and countries are bracing for more, while access to vaccines is scant at best. Most African countries will be struggling to vaccinate essential frontline workers this year, let alone the broader population. The latest Regional Economic Outlook for sub-Saharan Africa lays out the challenges that the region is facing and comes up with some policy recommendations to deal with critical issues like debt management and the financing of vaccine procurement. Papa N'Diaye leads the team that produces the biannual report. In this podcast, he says sub-Saharan Africa will be the world's slowest growing region in 2021. Read the report at IMF.org