{
  "title": "2021 External Sector Report: Divergent Recoveries and Global Imbalances",
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  "summary": "Overall current account deficits and surpluses widened in 2020 to 3.2 percent of world GDP. The IMF’s multilateral approach suggests that global excessive imbalances were broadly unchanged in 2020 at about 1.2 percent of world GDP.",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Key Highlights",
      "content": "- Overall current account deficits and surpluses widened in 2020 to 3.2 percent of world GDP.\n- The IMF’s multilateral approach suggests that global excessive imbalances were broadly unchanged in 2020 at about 1.2 percent of world GDP.\n- The external outlook for 2021 is highly uncertain given the divergent economic prospects across countries.\n- Unprecedented government borrowing to finance health care and economic support has had uneven effects on current account balances.\n- The impact on the current account balances depends on a country’s relative fiscal policy stance compared with that of its trading partners.\n- The outlook for global current account balances is a gradual narrowing during 2022–26, mainly reflecting a narrowing of the US deficit and China’s surplus to below pre-pandemic levels.\n- Over the medium term, collective action is needed to reduce global imbalances in a growth-friendly manner."
    },
    {
      "heading": "External Positions and Policies (Overview chapter)",
      "content": "- Presents the evolution and outlook for and risks stemming from global external positions.\n- Summarizes the 2020 external assessments for a globally representative set of economies.\n- Details of individual assessments are in Chapter 3, “2020 Individual Economy Assessments.”"
    },
    {
      "heading": "Fiscal Policy and External Adjustment",
      "content": "- Fiscal support in response to the COVID-19 crisis has been unprecedented.\n- The chapter analyzes how such support has affected external positions at the individual country and global level.\n- The chapter examines the expected effects of the withdrawal of fiscal support over the medium term."
    },
    {
      "heading": "2020 Individual Economy Assessments",
      "content": "- Individual economy assessments use a wide range of methods to form an integrated and multilaterally consistent view of economies’ external sector positions.\n- Results are detailed in Chapter 3, “2020 Individual Economy Assessments.”"
    },
    {
      "heading": "Report Components and Access Points",
      "content": "- External Sector Report: Divergent Recoveries and Global Imbalances — August 2021.\n- Full Report, Executive Summary, Blog, Workshop: December 2021.\n- Chapter materials include chapter 1 data, online annexes, chapter 2 data, online annex, and chapter 3 assessments.\n\nSource: 2021 External Sector Report: Divergent Recoveries and Global Imbalances — IMF web landing page (https://www.imf.org/en/publications/esr/issues/2021/08/02/2021-external-sector-report).\n\n---\n\n Content in this bundle\n\n- Microsoft Word - Workshop Program - Divergent Recoveries and Global Imbalances .docx\n  - Microsoft Word - Workshop Program - Divergent Recoveries and Global Imbalances .docx (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n  - Microsoft Word - Workshop Program - Divergent Recoveries and Global Imbalances .docx (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}\n- Chapter 1\n  - Chapter 1 (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n  - Chapter 1 (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}\n- Chapter 2\n  - Chapter 2 (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n  - Chapter 2 (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}\n- Chapter 3\n  - Chapter 3 (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n  - Chapter 3 (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}\n- 2021 External Sector Report — Chapter 1\n  - 2021 External Sector Report — Chapter 1 (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n  - 2021 External Sector Report — Chapter 1 (XLSX){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet\"}\n- ESR 2021 — Chapter 2 dataset overview\n  - ESR 2021 — Chapter 2 dataset overview (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n  - ESR 2021 — Chapter 2 dataset overview (XLSX){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet\"}\n- Executive Summary\n  - Executive Summary (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n  - Executive Summary (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}\n- Online Annex 2.1\n  - Online Annex 2.1 (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n  - Online Annex 2.1 (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}\n- Onlineannexes11\n  - Onlineannexes11 (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n  - Onlineannexes11 (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}\n- Full Report\n  - Full Report (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n  - Full Report (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}\n\n---\n\n References\n\n- https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/ranking/BCANGDPD@WEO/\n- Blog\n- External Balance Assessment\n- More about the External Sector Report\n- https://www.imf.org/en/home\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/esr/issues/2021/08/02/2021-external-sector-report"
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    "Published: August 2, 2021",
    "Overall current account deficits and surpluses widened in 2020 to 3.2 percent of world GDP.",
    "The IMF’s multilateral approach suggests that global excessive imbalances were broadly unchanged in 2020 at about 1.2 percent of world GDP.",
    "The external outlook for 2021 is highly uncertain given the divergent economic prospects across countries.",
    "Unprecedented government borrowing to finance health care and economic support has had uneven effects on current account balances.",
    "The impact on the current account balances depends on a country’s relative fiscal policy stance compared with that of its trading partners.",
    "The outlook for global current account balances is a gradual narrowing during 2022–26, mainly reflecting a narrowing of the US deficit and China’s surplus to below pre-pandemic levels.",
    "Over the medium term, collective action is needed to reduce global imbalances in a growth-friendly manner.",
    "Presents the evolution and outlook for and risks stemming from global external positions.",
    "Summarizes the 2020 external assessments for a globally representative set of economies.",
    "Details of individual assessments are in Chapter 3, “2020 Individual Economy Assessments.”",
    "Fiscal support in response to the COVID-19 crisis has been unprecedented.",
    "The chapter analyzes how such support has affected external positions at the individual country and global level.",
    "The chapter examines the expected effects of the withdrawal of fiscal support over the medium term.",
    "Individual economy assessments use a wide range of methods to form an integrated and multilaterally consistent view of economies’ external sector positions.",
    "Results are detailed in Chapter 3, “2020 Individual Economy Assessments.”",
    "External Sector Report: Divergent Recoveries and Global Imbalances — August 2021.",
    "Full Report, Executive Summary, Blog, Workshop: December 2021.",
    "Chapter materials include chapter 1 data, online annexes, chapter 2 data, online annex, and chapter 3 assessments.",
    "**Microsoft Word - Workshop Program - Divergent Recoveries and Global Imbalances .docx**",
    "**Chapter 1**",
    "**Chapter 2**",
    "**Chapter 3**",
    "**2021 External Sector Report — Chapter 1**",
    "**ESR 2021 — Chapter 2 dataset overview**",
    "**Executive Summary**",
    "**Online Annex 2.1**",
    "**Onlineannexes11**",
    "**Full Report**",
    "[https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/ranking/BCA_NGDPD@WEO/](https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/ranking/BCA_NGDPD@WEO/)",
    "[Blog](https://blogs.imf.org/2021/08/02/how-the-pandemic-widened-global-current-account-balances/)",
    "[External Balance Assessment](https://www.imf.org/external/np/res/eba/data.htm)",
    "[More about the External Sector Report](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/SPROLLs/External-Sector-Reports)"
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