World Bank: Survey of Corporate Tax Incentives for Green Growth
A World Bank blog published on 13 February 2025, written by Hania Kronfol, Eduardo Antonio and Jimenez Sandoval, assesses the use of corporate tax incentives to encourage environmentally friendly investment. The blog refers to a World Bank
See MoreIMF: Revenue and Spending Measures for Developing Countries to Reduce Debt Levels
An IMF Public Finance Management (PFM) Blog, written by Talal Rafi (a Director at EY Sri Lanka) and published on 27 January 2025, looked at the measures developing countries can take to reduce public debt levels. The author notes that more than 3
See MoreIMF Report Makes Tax Policy Recommendations for Japan
On 7 February 2025 the IMF published a report following discussions with Japan under Article IV of the IMF’s articles of agreement. The report notes that Japan’s economy contracted in the first half of 2024 as a result of temporary supply
See MoreWTO Working Paper: Continuing Significance of MFN Trading Terms
A WTO working paper of 15 January 2025, written by Tomasz Gonciarz and Thomas Verbeet, has the title Significance of most-favoured-nation terms in global trade: A comprehensive analysis. Under the WTO's MFN trading principle, member countries of
See More
IMF Working Paper: Is Tax Policy Supporting a Costly Industrial Policy in Mozambique
An IMF working paper written by Santos Bila, Utkarsh Kumar and Alexis Meyer-Cirkel with the title Is Tax Policy Costly Industrial Policy in Mozambique? Finds that tax advantages do not compensate for shortcomings in economic conditions. The
See More
IMF Working Paper: Strengthening Tax Governance Through Legal Design
An IMF working paper of 17 January 2025 written by L. Sofrona, C. Waerzeggers and B. Crowley with the title Strengthening Tax Governance Through Legal Design looks at tax governance in tax administration and how this can be strengthened. The
See MoreWorld 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 More
IMF: 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 More
IMF 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 More