In 2016, private pension assets reached their highest-ever level at over USD38 trillion in OECD countries, according to Pensions Markets in Focus. Investment losses resulting from the financial crisis have been recouped in almost all reporting OECD countries.

New Delhi, India, 8-9 November 2017. This symposium looked at how to implement effective financial education policies in a changing financial landscape with a focus on financial education in the digital age.

Riding the wave of technological innovation in finance, the robo-advice model has emerged as one potential solution for helping individuals manage their pensions and invest savings for retirement. This report provides an overview of the types of robo-advisors that are now available and discusses the potential benefits, risks and challenges of such platforms.

This report examines the approaches adopted in 23 OECD and EU countries for evaluating the performance and cost-effectiveness of publicly supported credit guarantee programmes for SMEs.

11 December 2017, OECD Paris - The 8th annual OECD high-level breakfast event brings together leading investors and senior government officials for informal, focused dialogue, to examine key developments and identify solutions to enable achievement of NDCs and the two-degree commitment.

This report provides a series of policy recommendations aimed at enhancing the contribution of the cyber insurance market to managing this increasingly prevalent risk. The report examines the current state of the market and the obstacles that are impeding the market from reaching its full potential

25-26 January 2018 - The first annual meeting of the G20 Global Infrastructure Connectivity Alliance will bring together policy makers and practitioners to discuss the state of play in global connectivity, innovative practices and the outlook for connectivity.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly turning to alternative sources of financing, while new bank lending is declining in a number of countries. Many SMEs remain over-reliant on bank credit, however, and the take-up of instruments other than straight debt varies greatly from one country to another, according to a new OECD report.

With the growth of cybercrime, and intensive media coverage of privacy breaches and ransomware attacks over the last year, could complacency about cyber risks soon be a thing of the past? Bill Below and Leigh Wolfrom of the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs look at some of the challenges to insuring cyber risk.

22-23 February 2018, Paris - The potential role of the nascent cyber insurance market in enhancing cyber resilience is increasingly being recognised by policy makers. This conference provided an opportunity to exchange knowledge and share experiences on addressing the challenges impeding the development of the cyber insurance market.

The roundtable offers a forum for regulators, policy makers, experts, practitioners, scholars and international organisations in Asia. This year’s edition will focus on recent developments in capital markets and on capital markets of the future.

Riding the wave of technological innovation in finance, the robo-advice model has emerged as one potential solution to increase the accessibility and affordability of getting help to invest savings for retirement. OECD's Jessica Mosher looks at the potential benefits, risks and challenges.

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, in Buenos Aires, 18-20 March 2018

The survey monitors and compares the investment behaviour, asset levels, and performances of the largest institutional investors in each region or country covered and analyses in greater depth the general trends observed at a national level.

25-26 April 2018, Tokyo - This event will bring together key stakeholders from the Asia Pacific region to discuss policy issues relevant to the sound development of insurance and private pensions markets.

18 May 2018, Paris, France: The 2018 symposium focused on the relationship between financial education policies and broad economic, financial and social outcomes, including its role in supporting sustainable and inclusive growth.

Paris, 25 May 2018 - Following a keynote speech from Emmanuelle Auriol, Professor at Toulouse School of Economics and Chair of Women in Economics of the European Economic Association, discussions at this event will explore some of the issues emerging from the gender biases evident in the field of economics.

Behavioural insights have the potential to enhance the effectiveness of financial literacy and investor education initiatives. This IOSCO/OECD report explores the extent to which they are being used, reviews the available literature and presents various approaches for policy makers and practitioners to consider when seeking to change financial behaviour.

Weak labour productivity growth continues to mark the world’s advanced economies and risks compromising improvements in living standards, says a new OECD report.

29 June 2018 - This keynote address focuses on the three main forces driving change in the financial sector: the growing importance of trust; the accelerating digitalisation of the economy; and the unprecedented interconnectedness of global markets. This keynote address was made by Greg Medcraft, OECD Director of Financial and Enterprise Affairs, at the Annual Conference of the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance.

A new OECD report, the 2018 Business and Finance Outlook, highlights a number of major risks having the potential to disrupt global economic growth. It notes that the gradual normalisation of monetary policy in an environment of growing debt will be a major test of whether the Basel III regulatory reforms have achieved their goal of ensuring safety and soundness in the financial system.

4-5 September 2018, Paris - The OECD Blockchain Policy Forum on "Distributed Ledgers: Opportunities and Challenges" was the first major international conference to take stock of blockchain’s impacts across the full range of government activities and public priorities.

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, was in Vienna on 7-8 September 2018 to attend the Eurogroup Meeting / Informal Meeting of Economic and Financial Affairs Ministers (ECOFIN).

25-26 October 2018, Beijing, China - The 2018 Global Forum was entitled “Designing pension systems to cope with the ageing challenge” and was jointly organised by the OECD, the International Organisation of Pension Supervisors (IOPS) and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), China.

12-13 November 2018, São Paulo, Brazil - A series of events addressing the most recent trends, opportunities and challenges in financial education will be co-hosted by the OECD and CVM Brazil.

15 November 2018, Paris - This Workshop will bring together academics, public stakeholders and industry experts to discuss using blockchain technology to unlock data for AI and financial sustainability and quality benchmarks

21/11/2018 - The OECD is currently updating its 1977 Recommendation on Consumer Protection in the field of Consumer Credit to ensure that it remains the relevant international standard. The draft text is available for public comment until 21 December 2018.

The OECD, UN Environment and World Bank Group today called on leaders of G20 countries to do more to enable a radical shift of investment into low-carbon, climate-resilient infrastructure as a way to limit the impact of climate change.

This report makes use of a unique set of data on premiums and claims provided by global reinsurance companies to examine the contribution that reinsurance has made to enhancing the capacity of the primary insurance market to manage catastrophe risk and to reducing the economic and insurance market disruption that often follows catastrophic events.

8/2/2019 - Gross borrowings of OECD governments from the markets are set to reach a new record level in 2019 by exceeding USD 11 trillion. While government funding needs in the wake of the financial crisis increased in most OECD countries, the recent further increase is confined to a few countries, particularly the United States.

While China’s overall debt-to-GDP ratio is not particularly high, its non-financial corporate debt relative to GDP is higher than in other major economies.

25 February 2019 - Corporate bond markets have become an increasingly important source of financing for non-financial companies since the global financial crisis. The total outstanding debt in the form of corporate bonds reached USD 13 trillion as of end-2018. In real terms, this is twice as much as in 2008. This paper documents a number of associated risks and vulnerabilities.

Global outstanding debt in the form of corporate bonds issued by non-financial companies has hit record levels, reaching almost USD 13 trillion at the end of 2018. This is double the amount outstanding in real terms before the 2008 financial crisis, according to a new OECD paper.

The Roundtable offers a forum for regulators, policy makers, experts, practitioners, scholars and international organisations in Asia. This year’s edition will focus on recent developments in capital markets, future capital markets facing the challenge of new financial technology and responsible, viable, and lifecycle infrastructure investments.

A robust and resilient anti-money laundering and combating of terrorism financing (AML/CFT) regime is the first step towards being able to implement effective legal, regulatory and operational measures. This document describes recommendations made by the OECD in relation to Latvia’s efforts to strengthen its AML/CFT supervisory and control systems.

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, will be in Bucharest on 5-6 April 2019 to attend the Informal Meeting of European Economic and Financial Affairs Ministers (ECOFIN).

23-24 April 2019, Paris - Debates at the 2019 Global Forum focused on the funding environment, the role of borrowing instruments in broadening the investor base, technological advances in finance for government bond markets and challenging debt dynamics.

This report provides updates of trends and developments associated with sovereign borrowing requirements and debt levels from the perspective of public debt managers for the OECD area and country groupings.

This report analyses insurance market statistics collected by the OECD to monitor the insurance industry’s overall performance and health. It covers all OECD countries plus selected Asian, African and Latin American countries.

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, will participate in the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ meeting in Chantilly, on 17-18 July 2019.

12-13 September 2019 - The 2nd OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum will address the benefits and risks of blockchain for our economies and societies, identify good policy and regulatory approaches, and investigate uses in specific policy areas.

Nepal recorded a Government Budget deficit equal to 8.90 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2018. Government Budget in Nepal averaged -3.50 percent of GDP from 1999 until 2018, reaching an all time high of -0.90 percent of GDP in 2014 and a record low of -8.90 percent of GDP in 2018. Government Budget is an itemized accounting of the payments received by government (taxes and other fees) and the payments made by government (purchases and transfer payments). A budget deficit occurs when an government spends more money than it takes in. The opposite of a budget deficit is a budget surplus. This page provides - Nepal Government Budget - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Nepal recorded a government debt equivalent to 30.40 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2018. Government Debt to GDP in Nepal averaged 44.34 percent from 1999 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 69.50 percent in 2001 and a record low of 25.30 percent in 2015. Generally, Government debt as a percent of GDP is used by investors to measure a country ability to make future payments on its debt, thus affecting the country borrowing costs and government bond yields. This page provides - Nepal Government Debt To GDP - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Nepal recorded a trade deficit of 103773.70 Million NPR in December of 2019. Balance of Trade in Nepal averaged -37973.27 Million NPR from 2001 until 2019, reaching an all time high of -3913.30 Million NPR in October of 2001 and a record low of -132194.70 Million NPR in September of 2018. Nepal’s lack of infrastructure and geographic constraints has led to chronic trade deficits. Nepal mainly exports iron and steel, knotted carpets, textiles, plastics, hollow tubes, beverages and vegetables. Nepal mainly imports oil, gold, iron and steel, clothes, pharmaceutical products, cement, electronic appliances, food and vehicles. This page provides - Nepal Balance of Trade - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Standard & Poor's credit rating for Luxembourg stands at AAA with stable outlook. Moody's credit rating for Luxembourg was last set at Aaa with stable outlook. Fitch's credit rating for Luxembourg was last reported at AAA with stable outlook. DBRS's credit rating for Luxembourg is AAA with stable outlook. In general, a credit rating is used by sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and other investors to gauge the credit worthiness of Luxembourg thus having a big impact on the country's borrowing costs. This page includes the government debt credit rating for Luxembourg as reported by major credit rating agencies.

External Debt in Rwanda increased to 3010 USD Million in 2017 from 2453 USD Million in 2016. External Debt in Rwanda averaged 1280.38 USD Million from 1991 until 2017, reaching an all time high of 3010 USD Million in 2017 and a record low of 511.20 USD Million in 2006. This page provides - Rwanda External Debt- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Rwanda recorded a Government Budget deficit equal to 4.30 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2018. Government Budget in Rwanda averaged -2.78 percent of GDP from 2006 until 2018, reaching an all time high of -0.10 percent of GDP in 2010 and a record low of -5.30 percent of GDP in 2013. Government Budget is an itemized accounting of the payments received by government (taxes and other fees) and the payments made by government (purchases and transfer payments). A budget deficit occurs when an government spends more money than it takes in. The opposite of a budget deficit is a budget surplus. This page provides - Rwanda Government Budget - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

An overview of the long-term care situation in Belgium is available here.

This report provides, for the Flemish community of Belgium, an independent analysis of major issues facing the educational evaluation and assessment framework, current policy initiatives, and possible future approaches.

This note is taken from Chapter 2 of Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth 2012.