Back

Coronavirus brought a perfect storm to developing countries - Otaviano Canuto

April 13, 2020
Related topics: 
Economy

- Flattening coronavirus curves of infection and recession will be harder in developing countries - Developing countries have faced foreign capital outflows - A boosted IMF may provide liquidity buffers for developing countries, but debt relief will be necessary to help vulnerable countries manage the coronavirus crisis

Speakers
Otaviano Canuto
Senior Fellow
Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, Affiliate Professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at Brookings Institute. Former Vice President and Executive Director at the World Bank, Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Vice President at the Inter-American Development Bank. ...

RELATED CONTENT

  • Youth ‘not in education, employment, or training’ (NEET) in North Africa: do household structure, subjective factors, and political dimensions affect NEET outcomes differently by gender?
    Authors
    Aomar Ibourk
    Zakaria Elouaourti
    August 7, 2025
    This paper was originally published on tandfonline.comYouth’s life paths have become increasingly challenging, especially for those classified as ‘Not in Education, Employment, or Training’ (NEET), who comprise 31.2% of North Africa’s youth population. This paper contributes to the growing discourse on the NEET phenomenon by exploring its structural and psychosocial dimensions in North Africa, with a specific focus on gender. Using a rich micro-level dataset of 7,815 individuals age ...
  • Brazil As a Special Target of President Trump’s Tariff Hikes
    Authors
    Otaviano Canuto
    August 4, 2025
    An Executive Order issued on July 30 by President Donald Trump hiked United States tariffs on imports from Brazil by 40%, in addition to the 10% established on April 2—the so-called ‘Liberation Day’ when Trump set out ‘reciprocal tariffs’ on countries around the world.The decree came with a long list of exemptions for Brazilian exports. For a number of product lines, the 10% April 2 tariff will continue to apply. These include air transport equipment, orange juice, furniture, fuel, ...
  • Aligning or Leading? Africa in the New World Order
    July 31, 2025
    This episode explores Africa's role amid a shifting global order marked by fragmentation and competing blocs. It examines whether African states are passive responders or active shapers of new strategic alignments like BRICS+ and South–South cooperation. The discussion also addresses Af...
  • Securing Africa’s Future: Ring-Fencing Development Financing in an Era of Security-Focused Economic Policy
    Authors
    Hinh T. Dinh
    Laura Rubidge
    July 25, 2025
    This paper was originally published on The South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) In the face of Africa’s development challenges and the mismatch between long-term needs and short-term pressures, ring-fencing development expenditures offers a viable solution to secure sustainable financing for growth. ...
  • Exploring the Role of Debt Swaps in Climate Finance
    July 24, 2025
    This episode explores the potential of debt-for-climate swaps as a strategic tool to address climate challenges and fiscal constraints in developing countries. While implementation has often been slow and fragmented, the conversation examines practical experiences from regions like Lati...
  • Policy Resource Guide (PRG) on Investment, Trade and Employment in the Southern Mediterranean region
    Authors
    Aomar Ibourk
    July 24, 2025
    This Paper was originally published on ilo.org A guide by the Mainstreaming Employment into Trade and Investment in the Southern Mediterranean (METI) Programme to advise policymakers on how to develop and implement trade, investment and employment.The PRG is a strategic framework designed to align trade and investment policies with employment goals in the Southern Mediterranean. The guide promotes practical solutions and supports policies that foster economic growth, empow ...
  • Download PDF
    BRICS in Times of Tectonic Shifts
    Authors
    Otaviano Canuto
    Bruno Saraiva
    July 21, 2025
    This article assesses the economic performance of the original BRICS economies, relative to the growth and currency appreciation projections presented in the papers that introduced the acronym, prior to the grouping becoming a diplomatic, political, and economic reality. It also discusses the BRICS agenda in the current challenging geopolitical context, in which economic fragmentation tends to raise costs for the global economy and presents considerable obstacles for emerging and de ...
  • Lula’s BRICS balancing acts in Rio
    Authors
    Otaviano Canuto
    Bruno Saraiva
    July 14, 2025
    The BRICS+ group of countries met in Rio de Janeiro over the weekend of 6-7 July. The original group – Brazil, Russia, India, China and, soon after, South Africa – emerged as the materialization of a work of fiction. Jim O’Neill, then chief economist at Goldman Sachs, produced a report in 2001 drawing attention to the rise of these countries as emerging regional powers in global economic growth. ...