The long and winding road to recovery

To be sure, the recovery was not expected to be smooth: historically, cleaning up after a financial crisis of this magnitude takes a long time, especially given high debt burdens, extended joblessness, and damaged banking systems. But risks to the world's economic outlook have risen, and stepped-up policy actions are needed to keep the global economy on track.

It is against this background that the International Monetary Fund has released its updated forecasts and assessment of the global economy. This analysis comes in three complementary documents: the World Economic Outlook, the Global Financial Stability Report, and the Fiscal Monitor.