Last Updated: October 09, 2008

Emerging Markets

Deteriorating world economic conditions will increase stress on emerging economies' equity markets, IMF study says (photo: Paulo Whitaker/Reuters)

After more than a year of relatively small spillovers from the financial turmoil in advanced economies, equity prices in emerging markets succumbed to the dramatic worsening of financial distress in mid-September 2008.

Opinion

Emerging Markets Fill New Role Amid Financial Strains

August 22, 2008
Emerging markets have become key drivers of global growth, acting as stabilizers over the past year when advanced economies were hit by fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis, IMF Chief Economist Simon Johnson says in the September 2008 issue of Finance & Development.

Policy Overview

Speech: Challenges to the Global Economy

October 7, 2008
A continued reversal of capital flows to emerging markets poses challenges for countries with large external deficits and a lower level of reserves relative to short-term debt

Factsheet: How the IMF Promotes Global Economic Stability

Factsheet: How the IMF Resolves Economic Crises

Analysis

Africa's Aspiring Second-Generation Emerging Markets

August 1, 2008
Several African countries, with developing financial markets that are likely to attract institutional financial investors, are promising candidates to become part of a second generation of "emerging market" countries, IMF analysis shows.

Spotlight

Inflation Risks Remain Despite Slowing Growth

October 02, 2008
Commodity prices will likely remain high and volatile, contributing to risks of second-round effects—such as wage hikes—across a range of emerging and developing economies, and further monetary policy tightening may be still relevant to contain these inflationary pressures, according to new IMF research.

Research & Publications

Lessons From Cross-Regional Analysis

October 2, 2008
A new IMF study explores the patterns of current account balances of emerging economies—especially in Asia and Europe—and asks why they have become much more diverse in recent years and what those differences mean for external vulnerability.