Apocalypse Later: New IMF GDP Figures Revised Upwards! #PostCOVID

Washington, D.C.: according to the International Monetary Fund ('IMF'), the global economy probably shrank by just 3.3% in 2020, an optimistic estimate that nevertheless comes with a string of caveats attached #globaleconomy #globalisation

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 16, 2021

IMF: the likely 2020 global GDP shrinkage of 'just' 3.3% was artificially suppressed by enormous stimulus packages; without these, the contraction would have been closer to 10% #COVID19 #economics

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 16, 2021

Analysis: the IMF's lyrical hypothesis that rich countries will rebound from the response to COVID19 with 'smaller scars' than generated in the period 2007–09 could be tested to the limit #economics #debt

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 16, 2021

To watch: the IMF's 2021 forecast for worldwide GDP expansion is a headline-grabbing 6%, but questions over distribution, equity and quality-of-life have rarely been more urgent – or unanswered https://t.co/96oNSmq8M7 #IMF

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 16, 2021

#Boao Forum for Asia Synopsis: World’s Largest Communist Party ‘Saviour of Global Capitalism’!

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine #Lagarde: #China's solemn pledge of further #reform and opening-up has injected a sense of certainty and hope into the global economy #IMF #WorldBank

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 16, 2018

In a thinly-veiled dig at the wave of protectionist sentiment sweeping over some developed economies, #Lagarde underlined the #IMF's 'responsibility' to maintain free trade and the multilateral system

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 16, 2018

Analysis: PRC President #XiJinping's keynote speech on 10/04/2018 is arguably one of the most important addresses thus far by any politician in the twenty-first century, signalling as it does #China's transition to economic 'regularisation'

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 16, 2018

To watch: the future of the world is increasingly being decided at conferences + fora which are serially ignored by an increasingly insular US + UK press; anyone who wishes to stay properly informed needs to tune out of the noise #media https://t.co/CWcFg11GgZ

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 16, 2018

Put Your Foot Down and Drive: Troubled Kingdom ‘Has Second Thoughts’!

#SaudiArabia has passed a royal decree allowing women to drive, ending a 27-year soap opera which has cast a shadow over the country's image

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) September 27, 2017

#SaudiArabia's female driving ban was not a product of #Islamic doctrine, but rooted in an otherwise ignored 1990 non-binding legal opinion

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) September 27, 2017

The royal decree is one of a series of perestroika-style reforms which hint at Saudi Arabia's generally weak fundamentals #SaudiWomenDriving

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) September 27, 2017

According to the IMF, #SaudiArabia is haemorrhaging cash, while the Saudi government's own estimates forecast net oil importation by 2030

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) September 27, 2017

The #SaudiWomenDriving royal decree therefore has a degree of inevitability about it, especially given that c.60% of KSA graduates are women

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) September 27, 2017

To watch: #SaudiArabia could give more freedoms to its subjects if the economy deteriorates; instability may follow https://t.co/mk3IjKVQc8

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) September 27, 2017

Going for Broke: Pivotal Region Faces Economic Devastation!

International Monetary Fund: large parts of the Middle East could run out of cash reserves in ≤5 years owing to low oil prices #edchat #edu

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) June 4, 2017

#Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Iraq are three countries confronting total fiscal meltdown in the early 2020s, absent of economic diversification

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) June 4, 2017

IMF: even countries with higher buffers, such as the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait, are vulnerable to low #energy prices and need to get out of #oil

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) June 4, 2017

Some GCC states have invested hugely in #highered in recent years, but much more action is required to avoid a spectacular + sudden collapse

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) June 4, 2017

To watch: dwindling oil reserves in #SaudiArabia could spark further regional unrest as resource wars intensify #edu https://t.co/dWOMOG4GOr

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) June 4, 2017

International Monetary Fund Scouts New Customer? IMF Report Says Saudi Arabia ‘Will Run Out Of Cash By 2020’!

International Monetary Fund: Saudi Arabia will have burnt through its remaining cash reserves by 2020 as proxy #wars + #ArabSpring take toll

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) October 23, 2015

The lethal combination of overplayed regional ambitions and lavish corruption means that Saudi Arabia is staring insolvency in the face #edu

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) October 23, 2015

Low #oil prices are not helping #SaudiArabia's fiscal position, but these are predictable given the KSA's strategy of flooding the #market

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) October 23, 2015

#SaudiArabia has only recently started to invest serious capital sums in #highered; risks being too little too late https://t.co/BUCV6jXUkm

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) October 23, 2015

Greece’s Education System: On the Slippery Slope of Volunteerism?

Greek Minister of #Education Andreas Loverdos is proposing to ask for #volunteer #teachers to fill a 1,100 #educator shortfall in #schools

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) November 8, 2014

Proposal would see unemployed #teachers be paid in 'points' which could be 'redeemed' in future, yet-to-materialise hiring drives #Greece

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) November 8, 2014

Loverdos' idea illustrates the desperate state of public #education in #Greece, which has seen funding evaporate since the #eurozone crisis

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) November 8, 2014

#Greece needs to improve tax regime + renegotiate with international lenders to ensure #education system survives http://t.co/tIYv9ElRDb #EU

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) November 8, 2014

A Kind of Blues: Portugal’s Well-Being Index Tumbles Under Economic Pressures!

#Portugal sees its own index score for well-being slide as effects of economic #austerity and high income #inequality bite hard #eurozone

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) November 5, 2014

The national minimum monthly salary in #Portugal is >€505.00, a sum which many are lucky to receive given youth unemployment of 40%< #Europe

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) November 5, 2014

A severe brain drain is now afflicting the economy of #Portugal as #Brazil, #Angola + other #lusophone destinations are sought out by young

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) November 5, 2014

Key question for legislators in #Portugal is how to stimulate economy + provide hope for disconsolate U-25s #Europe http://t.co/MvS84LiI8Z

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) November 5, 2014

A LEAP into the Light? World Bank Approves US$300m #Education Grant for the Philippines!

The #Philippines is to receive US$0.3bn loan to fund a #Learning, Equity and Accountability Program #Support or #LEAPS #education programme

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) March 19, 2014

#Education loan will train around 36,000 #teachers and 12,000 #principals in #grades 1-3: aim is to improve students' basic literacy + maths

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) March 19, 2014

The five poorest regions in the #Philippines are the arena for the implementation of #LEAPS, with 14,121 #schools and over 4m #students #IMF

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) March 19, 2014

Political settlement in #Mindanao signals rise of #Philippines in #ASEAN, world; #education key element for future http://t.co/QyVbQl5iPj

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) March 19, 2014

The ‘New’ Eurozone Crisis: Demographics!

Nearly 7% of all Germans will need state financial aid to cover their personal care costs by 2050; annual cost to state in 2010 was €3.4bn

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 10, 2013

Growing numbers of #Germans choosing to spend their retirement years in #Spain, #Asia or Eastern #Europe as unable to afford own care homes

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 7, 2013

Full care for an elderly person in a German home costs nearly €3k, only €1.5k of which is covered by state #insurance http://t.co/406OY4Hesi

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 7, 2013

Never A Borrower Be: Turkey ‘Becoming Net Creditor’ of the International Monetary Fund!

#Turkey slashes #IMF debt from US$23.5bn to US$0.4bn in just ten years; in talks to lend fund around US$5bn as now has massive trade surplus

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 19, 2013

Former regular customer of the #IMF now has amongst lowest public debt in #OECD; prime minister 'watching football' http://t.co/WMZWnYs8

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 19, 2013