2020 External Sector Report: Global Imbalances and the COVID-19 Crisis
Source details
- Canonical URL
- 2020 External Sector Report: Global Imbalances and the COVID-19 Crisis
Other formats
Bibliographic details
- Published: August 4, 2020
Key findings
- Overall current account deficits and surpluses narrowed modestly in 2019 to just under 3 percent of world GDP.
- The IMF’s multilateral approach suggests that about 40 percent of overall current account deficits and surpluses were excessive in 2019.
- The external outlook for 2020 is subject to high uncertainty and cross-country variation.
External outlook and risks
- The outlook for 2020 is characterized by high uncertainty and significant cross-country variation, reflecting the economic disruptions associated with the COVID-19 crisis.
- External stress risks are linked to shifts in current account balances and to the composition of external positions.
International investment position and external stress
- External assets and liabilities reached historic highs in the years before the COVID-19 crisis.
- Analysis examines the relationship between the structure of external assets and liabilities—the components of the international investment position—and the risk of external stress events.
Individual economy assessments
- Integrated, multilaterally consistent assessments were conducted for a globally representative set of economies to evaluate external sector positions.
- These assessments use a wide range of methods to form views on economies’ external positions.
Available analytical components
- The report includes a full report and executive summary, an overview chapter presenting evolution and outlook for global external positions and risks, and analytical work on external assets and liabilities and their links to external stress.
Source: 2020 External Sector Report: Global Imbalances and the COVID-19 Crisis (IMF)
Content in this bundle
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- esr2020-ch01
- esr2020-ch02
- Executive Summary
- External Sector Report, 2020: Chapter 2 - Online Annex 2.1; August 4, 2020
- Full Report