IMF Conference
December 4-5, 2025
This conference, jointly organized by the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, provides a high-level forum for examining fiscal policy and EU fiscal governance challenges. The conference, part of the Fiscal Affairs Department’s Sovereign Debt Network Project, brings together leading scholars and senior policymakers to explore a range of fiscal issues of import to the IMF membership, such as fiscal stagnation and sovereign risk, monetary-fiscal policy interactions, public debt perceptions and fiscal narratives, and the fiscal consequences of geopolitical tensions.
Watch live on the ECB conference Site.
| THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4th | |
| 9:00 AM | Welcome remarks: Oscar Arce (European Central Bank) |
| 9:10 AM | Session 1. Fiscal stagnation and sovereign risk |
| Chair: Oscar Arce (European Central Bank) | |
| “Fiscal stagnation” Luca Fornaro (Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional, CREI), together with Martin Wolf Discussant: Xavier Debrun (Nationale Bank van België/Banque Nationale de Belgique) “Sovereign default and the decline in interest rates” Jessica Wachter (University of Pennsylvania), together with Max Miller and James Paron Discussant: Eugenia Gonzalez-Aguado (Toulouse School of Economics) |
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| 10:50 AM | Coffee break |
| 11:10 AM | Session 2. Monetary and fiscal policy interactions |
| Chair: Christophe Kamps (European Central Bank) | |
| “Accounting for credibility: monetary-fiscal interactions and the credibility of central bank mandates” Rishabh Kirpalani (University of Wisconsin), together with Luigi Bocola, Gaston Chaumont and Alessandro Dovis Discussant: Anna Rogantini Picco (European Central Bank) “Fiscal redistribution risk in treasury markets” Howard Kung (London Business School), together with Roberto Gomez Cram, Hanno Lustig and David Zeke Discussant: James Costain (Banco de España) |
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| 12:50 PM | Lunch |
| 2:00 PM | Policy Panel. Priorities and challenges for fiscal policies in Europe |
| Chair: Piero Cipollone (Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank) | |
| Panelists: Laurence Boone (Santander Corporate & Investment Banking) Marco Buti (European University Institute) Moritz Schularick (Kiel Institute for the World Economy) Rodrigo Valdés (International Monetary Fund) |
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| 3:30 PM | Coffee break |
| 04:00 PM – 05:15 PM | Keynote lecture. Monetary-fiscal Interactions: HANK vs RANK |
| George-Marios Angeletos (Northwestern University) | |
| Chair: Philip Lane (Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank) | |
| 6:00 PM | Dinner (by invitation only) |
| FRIDAY DECEMBER 5th | |
| 9:30 AM | Session 3. Perceptions of public debt and fiscal narratives |
| Chair: Oreste Tristani (European Central Bank) | |
| “Perceptions of public debt and policy expectations: evidence from cross-country surveys ” Francesco Bianchi (Johns Hopkins University), together with Era Dabla-Norris and Salma Khalid Discussant: Eric Mengus (HEC Paris) “Inspecting the macroeconomic effects of fiscal policies in the EU through a new dataset of narrative measures” Roberto Perotti (Bocconi University), together with Mario Alloza, Francesco Berardini, Jacopo Cimadomo, Niamh Dunne, Jan Kuckuck and Luca Sala Discussant: Massimo Giuliodori (University of Amsterdam) |
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| 11:10 AM | Coffee break |
| 11:40 AM | Session 4. Geopolitical tensions and fiscal implications of war |
| Chair: Era Dabla-Norris (International Monetary Fund) | |
| “The price of war” Jonathan Federle (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), together with André Meier, Gernot Müller, Moritz Schularick Discussant: João Monteiro (Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance) “The offensive power of defence news in Europe” Evi Pappa (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid), together with Nadav Ben Zeev and Elena Scola Gagliardi Discussant: Ethan Ilzetzki (London School of Economics) |
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| 1:20 PM | Closing remarks: Era Dabla-Norris (International Monetary Fund) |
| 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Lunch |
| Conference organizers: Jacopo Cimadomo (ECB), Era Dabla-Norris (IMF), Demosthenes Ioannou (ECB), Sebastian Schmidt (ECB), Alexandra Solovyeva (IMF), and Leopold von Thadden (ECB). | |
