In May 2025, global inflation rates and central bank interest rates showed significant variation across major economies. Most economies initiated interest rate cuts from mid-2024 due to declining inflationary pressures. The U.S., UK, and EU central banks followed a consistent pattern of regular rate reductions throughout late 2024. In early 2025, Russia maintained the highest interest rate at 20 percent, while Japan retained the lowest at 0.5 percent. Varied inflation rates across major economies The inflation landscape varies considerably among major economies. China had the lowest inflation rate at -0.1 percent in May 2025. In contrast, Russia maintained a high inflation rate of 9.9 percent. These figures align with broader trends observed in early 2025, where China had the lowest inflation rate among major developed and emerging economies, while Russia's rate remained the highest. Central bank responses and economic indicators Central banks globally implemented aggressive rate hikes throughout 2022-23 to combat inflation. The European Central Bank exemplified this trend, raising rates from 0 percent in January 2022 to 4.5 percent by September 2023. A coordinated shift among major central banks began in mid-2024, with the ECB, Bank of England, and Federal Reserve initiating rate cuts, with forecasts suggesting further cuts through 2025 and 2026.

For the past few years, Sri Lanka’s economy has been thriving. Gross domestic product is soaring, and despite the densely populated country being among the smallest in the Asia Pacific region, its GDP per capita is not – it has almost doubled over the past decade. Sri Lanka’s inflation rate has been through the wringer, however: From around seven percent in 2013 to a sudden slump to around two percent in 2015 with a rapid upturn and peak at 6.5 percent in 2017 again. The slump in 2015 is mainly due to the country amassing national debt, which is soaring just as much as GDP. Sri Lanka has been spending so much money on developing its infrastructure, it needed help from the International Monetary Fund.

Bailed out

The International Monetary Fund does not just bail a country out frivolously, although Sri Lanka is by far not the only one requesting financial aid. Other countries have turned to the IMF for help in the past, the most famous example of asking for a bailout is Greece, which still struggles with the consequences of economic turmoil, austerity, and debt years later. Bailout money comes with terms and conditions, since it is a temporary solution to facilitate resolving an economic crisis. Often, one of these conditions is that countries take matters into their own hands and do everything they can to avoid further crises and to help get themselves out of debt.

Maxing out the cards

Sri Lanka has been living above its means, but prognoses look promising. Inflation is expected to level off around five percent, as is government expenditure at around 20 percent of GDP. Debt is still rising, of course, but trade seems in good shape, as well, with exports increasing, lowering the trade deficit. All in all, it looks like investing in infrastructure may pay off after all.

Replication files for "Job-to-Job Mobility and Inflation" Authors: Renato Faccini and Leonardo Melosi Review of Economics and Statistics Date: February 2, 2023 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ORDERS OF TOPICS .Section 1. We explain the code to replicate all the figures in the paper (except Figure 6) .Section 2. We explain how Figure 6 is constructed .Section 3. We explain how the data are constructed SECTION 1 Replication_Main.m is used to reproduce all the figures of the paper except Figure 6. All the primitive variables are defined in the code and all the steps are commented in code to facilitate the replication of our results. Replication_Main.m, should be run in Matlab. The authors tested it on a DELL XPS 15 7590 laptop wih the follwoing characteristics: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-9980HK CPU @ 2.40GHz 2.40 GHz Installed RAM 64.0 GB System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It took 2 minutes and 57 seconds for this machine to construct Figures 1, 2, 3, 4a, 4b, 5, 7a, and 7b. The following version of Matlab and Matlab toolboxes has been used for the test: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MATLAB Version: 9.7.0.1190202 (R2019b) MATLAB License Number: 363305 Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise Version 10.0 (Build 19045) Java Version: Java 1.8.0_202-b08 with Oracle Corporation Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM mixed mode -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MATLAB Version 9.7 (R2019b) Financial Toolbox Version 5.14 (R2019b) Optimization Toolbox Version 8.4 (R2019b) Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox Version 11.6 (R2019b) Symbolic Math Toolbox Version 8.4 (R2019b) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The replication code uses auxiliary files and save the pictures in various subfolders: \JL_models: It contains the equations describing the model including the observation equations and routine used to solve the model. To do so, the routine in this folder calls other routines located in some fo the subfolders below. \gensystoama: It contains a set of codes that allow us to solve linear rational expectations models. We use the AMA solver. More information are provided in the file AMASOLVE.m. The codes in this subfolder have been developed by Alejandro Justiniano. \filters: it contains the Kalman filter augmented with a routine to make sure that the zero lower bound constraint for the nominal interest rate is satisfied in every period in our sample. \SteadyStateSolver: It contains a set of routines that are used to solved the steady state of the model numerically. \NLEquations: It contains some of the equations of the model that are log-linearized using the symbolic toolbox of matlab. \NberDates: It contains a set of routines that allows to add shaded area to graphs to denote NBER recessions. \Graphics: It contains useful codes enabling features to construct some of the graphs in the paper. \Data: it contains the data set used in the paper. \Params: It contains a spreadsheet with the values attributes to the model parameters. \VAR_Estimation: It contains the forecasts implied by the Bayesian VAR model of Section 2. The output of Replication_Main.m are the figures of the paper that are stored in the subfolder \Figures SECTION 2 The Excel file "Figure-6.xlsx" is used to create the charts in Figure 6. All three panels of the charts (A, B, and C) plot a measure of unexpected wage inflation against the unemployment rate, then fits separate linear regressions for the periods 1960-1985,1986-2007, and 2008-2009. Unexpected wage inflation is given by the difference between wage growth and a measure of expected wage growth. In all three panels, the unemployment rate used is the civilian unemployment rate (UNRATE), seasonally adjusted, from the BLS. The sheet "Panel A" uses quarterly manufacturing sector average hourly earnings growth data, seasonally adjusted (CES3000000008), from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Employment Situation report as the measure of wage inflation. The unexpected wage inflation is given by the difference between earnings growth at time t and the average of earnings growth across the previous four months. Growth rates are annualized quarterly values. The sheet "Panel B" uses quarterly Nonfarm Business Sector Compensation Per Hour, seasonally adjusted (COMPNFB), from the BLS Productivity and Costs report as its measure of wage inflation. As in Panel A, expected wage inflation is given by the... Visit https://dataone.org/datasets/sha256%3A44c88fe82380bfff217866cac93f85483766eb9364f66cfa03f1ebdaa0408335 for complete metadata about this dataset.

Inflation Rate in Philippines increased to 1.40 percent in June from 1.30 percent in May of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Philippines Inflation Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Cost of food in Philippines increased 0.40 percent in June of 2025 over the same month in the previous year. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Philippines Food Inflation - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

The Federal Reserve's balance sheet has undergone significant changes since 2007, reflecting its response to major economic crises. From a modest *** trillion U.S. dollars at the end of 2007, it ballooned to approximately **** trillion U.S. dollars by June 2025. This dramatic expansion, particularly during the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic - both of which resulted in negative annual GDP growth in the U.S. - showcases the Fed's crucial role in stabilizing the economy through expansionary monetary policies. Impact on inflation and interest rates The Fed's expansionary measures, while aimed at stimulating economic growth, have had notable effects on inflation and interest rates. Following the quantitative easing in 2020, inflation in the United States reached ***** percent in 2022, the highest since 1991. However, by *************, inflation had declined to *** percent. Concurrently, the Federal Reserve implemented a series of interest rate hikes, with the rate peaking at **** percent in ***********, before the first rate cut since ************** occurred in **************. Financial implications for the Federal Reserve The expansion of the Fed's balance sheet and subsequent interest rate hikes have had significant financial implications. In 2023, the Fed reported a negative net income of ***** billion U.S. dollars, a stark contrast to the ***** billion U.S. dollars profit in 2022. This unprecedented shift was primarily due to rapidly rising interest rates, which caused the Fed's interest expenses to soar to over *** billion U.S. dollars in 2023. Despite this, the Fed's net interest income on securities acquired through open market operations reached a record high of ****** billion U.S. dollars in the same year.

Inflation was the most worrying topic worldwide as of May 2025, with ********* of the respondents choosing that option. Crime and violence, as well as poverty and social inequality, followed behind. Moreover, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza, *** percent of the respondents were worried about military conflict between nations. Only *** percent were worried about the COVID-19 pandemic, which dominated the world after its outbreak in 2020. Global inflation and rising prices Inflation rates have spiked substantially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. From 2020 to 2021, the worldwide inflation rate increased from 3.5 percent to 4.7 percent, and from 2021 to 2022, the rate increased sharply from 4.7 percent to 8.7 percent. While rates are predicted to fall come 2025, many are continuing to struggle with price increases on basic necessities. Poverty and global development Poverty and social inequality were the third most worrying issues to respondents. While poverty and inequality are still prominent, global poverty rates have been on a steady decline over the years. In 1994, 64 percent of people in low-income countries and around one percent of people in high-income countries lived on less than 2.15 U.S. dollars per day. By 2018, this had fallen to almost 44 percent of people in low-income countries and 0.6 percent in high-income countries. Moreover, fewer people globally are dying of preventable diseases, and people are living longer lives. Despite these aspects, issues such as wealth inequality have global prominence.

Unemployment Rate in Philippines decreased to 3.90 percent in May from 4.10 percent in April of 2025. This dataset provides - Philippines Unemployment Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

As of January 2024, the prices of essential goods in the Philippines increased compared to the same month in the previous year. With the exception of rice, most basic goods noted a significant increase in prices. For instance, the price of six kilograms of meat rose from nearly 1,600 Philippine pesos in 2022 to 1,843 Philippine pesos in 2024. In addition, the cost of eight kilograms of vegetables increased from 698 to 857 Philippine pesos.