Business this week

The IMF urged governments in rich countries to step up spending on investment, pointing out that, even before covid-19, public-investment-to-GDP ratios were declining. The rates of return from spending on adaptation to climate change in particular are often greater than 100%, it said. Meanwhile, Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s managing director, described the path to economic recovery after the pandemic as “the long ascent—a difficult climb that will be long, uneven and uncertain. And prone to setbacks.”