The 2020 outbreak of COVID-19 is a truly global shock, unlike any seen before. The public health policies implemented to contain the virus have significantly disrupted the global economy through both supply and demand channels and have substantially affected global financial markets. Governments, central banks, and international financial organizations such as the IMF and the World Bank have stepped up to support the economy with fiscal and monetary stimulus and a substantial increase in the government debt burden. However, the unfolding of COVID-19 is greatly uncertain. Health and hence economic outcomes appear to be vastly different across countries and even within states within countries. What is certain is that the global economy has fundamentally changed.

The program aims to understand the global and country-specific financial market and macroeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program will provide a forum to explore the new financial market and economic linkages between countries and the potential mechanisms of recovery from the crisis. The aim is to inform policymakers in both emerging and developed economies and to enhance academic research as the world seeks to recover from this crisis.

The program focusses on:

The global macroeconomics consequences of the pandemic
New channels of transmission of the international financial market and economic shocks
Fiscal policy responses to the pandemic
Conventional and unconventional monetary policy responses to the pandemic
The interaction between fiscal and monetary policy in mitigating the effects of the pandemic
Commodity prices and the coronavirus pandemic
The COVID-19 and income and intergenerational inequality
Macroeconomic effects of changes in agents’ behaviour and modes of interaction
Short-term and long-term impacts on the labour market