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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will continue to support countries in their efforts to promote stability and growth, including through sound macroeconomic policies, domestic resource mobilisation and better governance, with specific attention to low-income and vulnerable countries, Mohammed Aljadaan, Minister for Finance of Saudi Arabia and chair of its International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) said at the 53^rd meeting of the committee.

Such countries include fragile and conflict-affected states and small developing states, especially where debt and financing pressures are mounting, he noted in his statement.

The IMF will continue to support countries in their efforts to promote stability and growth, including through sound macroeconomic policies, domestic resource mobilisation and better governance.
The chair of its International Monetary and Financial Committee said this support will include specific attention to low-income and vulnerable countries.
The committee called for enhanced debt transparency.

“We remain committed to further improving debt restructuring processes, including under the Common Framework, building on the progress already achieved, and advancing the work at the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable (GSDR) to ensure debt restructurings are delivered in a predictable, timely, orderly and coordinated manner,” he said.

The committee called for enhanced debt transparency from all stakeholders, including private creditors.

“We will advance structural reforms to enable private sector-led investment, increase productivity, safeguard energy security, and elevate medium-term growth prospects,” added Aljadaan.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

Companies in Germany have revised their investment plans upwards for the current year, with the ifo investment expectations index rising to 0.2 points in March from -3.1 points in December 2025.

“The improved order situation in industry has brightened sentiment somewhat. However, as a result of the Iran war, energy costs have risen sharply, and uncertainty among companies has also increased. That runs counter to a stronger economic recovery,” said Timo Wollmershauser, head of forecasts at ifo.

Firms in Germany have raised investment plans, with ifo expectations rising to 0.2 points in March from -3.1 in December 2025.
Industry led gains, especially non-energy sectors, while energy-intensive segments and chemicals remained weak.
Services showed modest optimism, but trade stayed pessimistic.
Rising energy costs and geopolitical uncertainty temper recovery.

The most notable rise in the willingness to invest was in industry. Expectations rose to +0.1 points in March, up from -6.9 points in December. The outlook improved particularly strongly in non-energy-intensive industries, where significantly more companies were planning to expand their investments this year, ifo said in a press release.

In energy-intensive industries, however, the willingness to invest remains subdued. At -9 points in March, the balance remained virtually unchanged from December (-8.9 points). In the chemical industry, investment expectations even declined further, from -15.8 to -16.2 points.

Overall, the corresponding balance in manufacturing rose from -4.1 to +1.2 points. “Companies across all sectors also want to invest more in software. The growing use of artificial intelligence is likely to play a role in that,” said ifo economic expert Lara Zarges.

In trade, companies remain the most pessimistic. The balance of investment expectations stood at -9.6 points in March, virtually unchanged from the level in December. Service providers, on the other hand, confirmed their slightly positive outlook from December: Their investment expectations improved from +1.1 to +2.8 points.

The points for the ifo investment expectations indicate the percentage of companies that intend to increase their investments on balance.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SG)