World Bank: Global Economic Prospects
The World Bank report Global Economic Prospects was issued in January 2025. The report notes that global growth is projected to remain steady at 2.7% in 2025/26, but this relatively low growth rate will not be sufficient to promote sustained
See MoreIMF: Briefing on the World Economic Outlook
In the briefing on the latest World Economic Outlook on 17 January 2024, the Director of the IMF’s Research Department confirmed that global growth is projected to remain steady at 3.3% in 2025 and 2026. Globally, inflation is expected to decline
See MoreIMF Updates World Economic Outlook
On 17 January 2025 the IMF published the update to the World Economic Outlook, with the subtitle Global Growth: Divergent and Uncertain. The update notes that global growth is expected to remain stable at 3.3% in both 2025 and 2026, below the
See MoreIMF Report looks at Australia’s Economic Position
On 23 December 2024 the IMF staff issued a report following consultations with Australia under Article IV of the IMF’s articles of agreement. Economic growth is projected increase gradually, from 1.2% in 2024 to 2.1% in 2025. Real income growth
See More
IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings: Regional Economic Outlook – Europe
On 23 October 2024 the IMF launched the latest issue of the Regional Economic Outlook for Europe. Europe’s economic recovery is continuing after a strong response to the recent crises. However, the recovery is falling short of Europe’s full
See More
WTO Trade Policy Review of EU
The WTO is reviewing the trade policies and practices of the EU on 5 and 7 June 2023. The WTO Secretariat has produced a report as a basis for the review. During the period under review the EU made progress on major policy initiatives including
See MoreIMF Report Recommends Policy Changes for Germany
On 23 May 2022 the IMF published a report following discussions with Germany under Article IV of the IMF’s articles of agreement. Germany’s economic recovery was gathering strength before the Ukraine war began, but the war has impacted the
See MoreIMF Report Considers the Economic Situation in Italy
On 19 May 2022 the IMF issued a concluding statement following discussions with Italy under Article IV of the IMF’s articles of agreement. By the end of 2021 Italy’s economy had recovered to a level close to its pre-pandemic output,
See MoreEU: European Commission Proposes Tax Allowance for Equity
On 11 May 2022 the European Commission put forward proposals for a tax allowance that would reduce the current tax advantage for debt over equity. This allowance would be designed to encourage businesses to access more equity financing and reduce
See MoreCentre for Global Development – Health Taxes During the Recovery
On 19 April the Centre for Global Development (CGD) held a discussion on how the IMF and World Bank can use their knowledge of health taxes to help lower- and middle-income countries recover more quickly from the pandemic. The panel consisted of
See MoreEU: Public Consultation on Minimum Rates of Alcohol Excise Duty
On 11 April 2022 the European Commission began a consultation on the minimum rates of alcohol excise duty in the EU. The consultation will continue until 4 July 2022. The consultation aims to gather the views of the relevant stakeholders on
See MoreEU: Pressure on member states to revise CBI/RBI schemes
Recently there has been increased pressure on European Union (EU) member states to scale back their schemes offering citizenship or residence in return for financial contributions. This reflects heightened security concerns in view of the current
See MoreEU: Joint European Action for Affordable and Sustainable Energy
On 8 March 2022 the European Commission issued a communication entitled REPowerEU: Joint European Action for more affordable, secure and sustainable energy. This document notes that the current geopolitical situation requires independence from
See MoreSouth Africa: Finance Minister delivers Budget 2022-2023 in National Assembly
On 23 February 2022, the Finance Minister, Mr Enoch Godongwana, delivered the 2022-2023 Budget Speech to the National Assembly at the Good Hope Chamber. Some of the main tax measures are given below: The corporate income tax rate was proposed to
See MoreRussia: Restaurants businesses will be exempt from VAT
On 17 February 2022, the State Duma published Guidance Letter No. 03-07-07/1908 and proposed that public catering companies are exempt from VAT under certain conditions. Accordingly, the companies involved in this project will be exempt from VAT
See MoreThailand: Amendments to Tobacco Tax and Regulation
It was reported on 17 February 2022 that the Cabinet in Thailand has approved a five-year road map to reduce the level of tobacco consumption and improve overall public health by strategies that combine regulation, information and revised tobacco
See MoreGhana Revenue Authority Proposes Revisions to Tobacco Tax
On 26 January 2022 the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) announced that revisions to the Tobacco Tax will be implemented later this year after consultations with relevant stakeholders are completed. The GRA intends to introduce a combination of
See MoreGhana: Report Recommends Changes to Tobacco Taxation
On 26 January 2022 the Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), a Ghanaian NGO, released a Study Report on Economics of Tobacco in Ghana. The report recommended the re-introduction of a specific tax in addition to the ad-valorem tax system and
See More