IMF Weekend Read,update

Dear MARIA,

In today's edition, we highlight:

The global outlook
Stablecoins
Asia's new opportunity
Free economics classes

GLOBAL OUTLOOK

Growth Firms, Risks Persist

Over the past three months the global growth outlook for 2026 has

firmed at around 3 percent. But “behind the averages, there is significant divergence in economic fortunes, and risks to the outlook remain high,” said IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, following the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, on September 1.

Surging investment in artificial intelligence, including in power projects, is driving growth—especially in the United States and in economies integrated into the AI value chain. But the energy shock caused by the war in the Middle East is not over: the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, strategic oil and gas reserves will need restocking, AI is adding to energy demand, and winter is approaching in the Northern Hemisphere. Adding to these risks are concerns over fundamentals. Public debt, at almost 100 percent of GDP worldwide, is at the highest level since the Second World War and is set to rise further, while disinflation has stalled in many countries.

Georgieva called for central banks to focus on price stability, fiscal authorities to develop credible medium-term consolidation plans, and structural reforms to lift potential growth. She also warned that excess global imbalances—those not explained by fundamentals—widened by 0.7 percent of global GDP in 2025, the largest increase in a decade. Excess imbalances in major economies can result in cross-border spillovers, trade tensions, and economic fragmentation.

Read the statement

STABLECOINS

Finance Moves Faster

Georgieva delivered remarks on tokenization and stablecoins at the Kansas City Fed’s Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on August 28. The remarks highlighted that stablecoins show potential to make large-value cross-border payments cheaper and faster. But their eventual role in the global payments system remains uncertain.

“In a more fluid global financial system, the transmission of risks is faster and the penalty on policy error is larger,” said the IMF managing director. “Sound regulatory and macro policies become even more important.” Tokenization and stablecoins require an internationally coordinated regulatory response, including rules to limit regulatory arbitrage and ensure the safety and liquidity of stablecoin reserve pools.

For emerging market and developing economies, stablecoins could complicate macroeconomic policy by encouraging currency substitution, making capital controls more porous, and increasing capital-flow volatility. Georgieva called for stronger domestic banking supervision, appropriate regulation of stablecoin intermediaries, larger foreign-exchange buffers, and strict policy discipline. Stablecoins may lower funding costs for some issuer countries, she said, but such gains are marginal and no substitute for credible medium-term fiscal consolidation or central banks’ focus on price stability.

Read the speech

FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT

Asia's New Opportunity

Asia faces increasingly important economic policy choices, as technological change accelerates, populations age, and the global landscape grows more uncertain. F&D magazine’s September issue explores the opportunities, innovations, and policy decisions that could shape the region's next chapter of growth.

Read the Editor’s Letter.

Check out some of our cover stories:

Asia’s New Growth Challenge | As societies age and trade fragments, policymakers must adapt to sustain growth and support rising living standards | Krishna Srinivasan | Watch the Video Podcast

A Cooperative Advantage | Southeast Asia, a major beneficiary of the rules-based system, has a strong incentive to repair it | Danny Quah

From Speed to Trust in Digital Payments | Asia’s impressive technological progress must now meet the challenge of building trust | Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput

Also in the magazine:

The Rewards of Rebalancing | Investors can gain from embracing more of our world | Sony Kapoor

The Innovation Blindspot | Looking beyond China-US rivalry reveals alternative models of technological development | Mehran Gul

For People in Economics, Prakash Loungani profiles veteran Indian policymaker and change architect Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

Subscribe for free here to receive a copy of the magazine every quarter filled with brewing economic and financial policy debates and analysis.

Read the magazine

PODCAST

Krishna Srinivasan on Asia's Next Chapter

In recent decades many Asian countries boosted productivity and growth by moving jobs from farms to factories. But is that still a viable or sufficient growth path?

In this podcast, IMF Asia and Pacific Department head Krishna Srinivasan, co-author of a forthcoming book on Asia’s economies, discusses the region’s new growth model.

Watch the video

LEARN WITH EXPERTS

Free Online Classes

Autumn has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere, but there is still time to explore the IMF Summer School. This year’s edition takes viewers inside the IMF’s free online learning program through conversations with the experts who teach its courses, including Michael Hardy of the Fiscal Affairs Department, Gomiluk Otokwala of the Legal Department, and Guilherme Pedras of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department.

The IMF offers more than 120 free online courses, ranging from macroeconomics and financial-sector development to debt management and legal frameworks. Watch the Summer School playlist; each episode’s description includes a link to the relevant course. Subscribe for updates on future Summer School events and other learning opportunities.

Watch the videos