This report assesses the immediate impact of Russia’s war against the people of Ukraine on global financial markets, and the continuing potential for spillovers into those markets. While the war has not yet caused a number of existing vulnerabilities to fully crystallise, high levels of...

The global crisis of 2008-09 went in hand with sharp fluctuations in capital flows. To some extent, these fluctuations may have been attributable to uncertainty-averse investors indiscriminately selling assets about which they had poor information, including those in geographically distant...

The COVID-19 pandemic has wide implications for the socio-economic fabric worldwide. In addition to health fears, citizens are facing a host of financial uncertainties stemming from the temporary closure of businesses, schools, public facilities and quarantines, as well as instability in the...

Fragile contexts are beginning to be hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of these countries are insufficiently prepared to cope with the spread of the disease and its consequences across the multiple dimensions of fragility. The most vulnerable have difficulty in accessing hospitals and rely on...

The dramatic collapse in world trade in 2009 is, this report shows, mainly due to: the drop in demand for highly traded products; the drying up of trade finance; and the vertically integrated nature of global supply chains. Contrary to expectations, protectionist measures were relatively muted and...