Bilateral swap lines are ex-ante arrangements between central banks that provide protection from foreign currency liquidity risk. These lines are not subject to conditionality, and foreign central banks can draw on them under predefined terms. From an economic standpoint, the transaction can be likened to a foreign currency loan, backed by local currency collateral, with the borrower bearing the f... Lire la suite
The agricultural and agri-food sector is one of France's strongest export performers. Its trade surplus – €5.5bn in 2017 – is the third largest, on the heels of the aerospace and chemicals sectors. A large proportion of this surplus is attributable to a small number of products, beverages and cereals in particular.Since the beginning of the 2010s, this surplus has gradually declined. The increased... Lire la suite
Chinese President Xi Jinping's signature "One Belt, One Road" policy, also known as the "Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI) or the "New Silk Road", was officially launched in 2013. The initiative has now become a cornerstone of the economic development and trade strategy of the world's second-largest economy.The BRI seeks to provide a response to the infrastructure needs of more than 60 developing co... Lire la suite
In 2015, the Renzi government adopted a labour market reform, the "Jobs Act", in response to a relatively low labour force participation rate and a high degree of dualism in the labour market, . In addition and unlike its trading partners, productivity gains have stalled in Italy, which is becoming less competitive.Building on the 2012 Fornero reforms, the Jobs Act relaxed protections for employee... Lire la suite
After a sharp climb to 3.7% in 2017, the strength of global growth is set to last throughout 2018 and 2019 (3.8%), driven by an acceleration of economic activity in the United States and many emerging countries, in spite of a downturn in the other major advanced countries.In the United States, the pace of growth is expected to pick up markedly in 2018 on the back of fiscal stimulus, prior to a mod... Lire la suite
The Business Growth and Transformation Bill, known by its French acronym PACTE, was presented at a Cabinet meeting on 18 June 2018. This bill includes provisions targeting business creations and growth, corporate financing and insolvency procedures, innovation, and profit-sharing. An ex ante evaluation of measures whose effects have already been covered in the economic literature, based on economi... Lire la suite
Growth in emerging countries has been on the decline since 2010, with average annual rates of 5.0% between 2011 and 2016, after 6.6% between 2000 and 2007. This slowdown, common to all emerging regions, is more marked in Latin America and Asia.A fall-off in total factor productivity (TFP) growth explains a large part of the decline in growth in these countries. This slowdown came after a rapid tec... Lire la suite
Car use generates costs for society in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, traffic jams and air pollution. In order to ensure economic efficiency, the cost of driving for car users should reflect these external costs alongside private costs (car purchase, repairs and fuel). This is currently not the case in France where, most of the time, car users do not pay for the social cost of their rides. Thi... Lire la suite
Knowing the position of the economy in the business cycle is important for implementing economic policy. It makes it possible, for example, to draw up a medium-term growth scenario: an overheating economy is likely to slow down whereas a demand deficient economy could beat its potential growth rate. Similarly, it makes it possible to identify the structural component of the general government bala... Lire la suite
In France, energy consumption for heating accounts for nearly half of final energy consumption. Energy for heating still largely comes from fossil fuel sources (with more than 60% of energy for heating coming from natural gas, fuel oil and coal), making this sector a crucial battleground for decarbonising the economy.Fuelwood, mainly used to produce heat, is currently the leading renewable energy... Lire la suite