International Monetary Fund

Critical minerals are essential to modern economies, but supply chains are concentrated in ways that create global vulnerabilities, Gracelin Baskaran tells F&D magazine in an interview. https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2026/06/cafe-economics-mine-the-gap-bruce-edwards

Over the past 24 years, the JVI - Joint Vienna Institute has trained almost 60,000 country officials and supported institutional strengthening across 31 countries in Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.

Today, the IMF and Austria renewed their agreement, reinforcing the Joint Vienna Institute’s role in delivering capacity development. The Institute organizes close to 100 courses, seminars, peer-to-peer exchanges, and related events each year. Learn more here: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2026/06/17/pr-26209-austria-imf-and-austria-renew-agreement-joint-vienna-institute

Lear more about IMF Capacity Development efforts: https://www.imf.org/en/capacity-development

A new IMF Global Policy Tracker has recorded nearly 900 policy measures across about 170 countries responding to the energy shock from the war in the Middle East.

The early evidence raises concerns. Many governments favor broad-based subsidies and tax cuts that are expensive and hard to unwind. Meanwhile, pricing measures that compress margins in state-owned energy companies can generate losses that later surface as contingent liabilities on public balance sheets.

The principle is straightforward: protect people, not prices. Allow prices to adjust, keep fiscal interventions temporary and targeted, and preserve room to act if new shocks come.

Read our new blog: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2026/06/18/the-energy-shock-is-testing-government-budgets

Turkish economist Şebnem Kalemli‑Özcan uses firm‑level data to explain global capital flows, Chris Wellisz writes in a profile for F&D magazine. https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2026/06/people-in-economics-micro-maestro-chris-wellisz

Economics must confront the reality that the future is fundamentally uncertain, Robert Skidelsky, the world’s leading Keynes biographer, who died in April aged 86, writes in his final article for F&D magazine. https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2026/06/keynes-for-our-times-robert-skidelsky

Stablecoins allow Nigerian households and small firms to move money across borders faster and at lower cost. Nigeria accounts for about 60% of stablecoin inflows in sub-Saharan Africa since 2019.

But widespread use of dollar-pegged tokens raises questions about monetary sovereignty and financial integrity. New IMF analysis outlines a pragmatic approach: allow innovation, strengthen oversight, improve data, and upgrade payment infrastructure.

Read more in our Country Focus blog: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2026/06/16/stablecoins-in-nigeria

Calling itself a “middle power” understates Europe’s strength and risks diminishing its role in global affairs, Beatrice Weder di Mauro writes in F&D magazine. https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2026/06/point-of-view-europes-power-paradox-beatrice-weder-di-mauro

Higher oil prices are contributing to a pickup in headline inflation. But medium-term expectations generally remain well anchored. That is an encouraging sign of confidence in central banks' commitment to price stability. Read 's latest blog. https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2026/06/15/global-economy-endures-war-shock-so-far