This page gives a thematic overview of BIS Annual Reports in recent years.
2011: Building a stable future
Over the past year, the global economy has continued to improve. In emerging markets, growth has been strong, and advanced economies have been moving towards a self-sustaining recovery. But it would be a mistake for policymakers to relax. From our vantage point, numerous legacies and lessons of the financial crisis require attention. In many advanced economies, high debt levels still burden households as well as financial and non-financial institutions, and the consolidation of fiscal accounts has barely started. International financial imbalances are re-emerging. More...
Read complete 2011 Annual Report
2010: Beyond the rescue: exiting intensive care and finishing the reforms
The financial crisis has left policymakers with a daunting legacy, especially in industrial countries. In setting policies, they must adopt a medium- to longterm perspective while they cope with the still fragile and uneven recovery. Households have only just begun to reduce their indebtedness and therefore continue to curb spending. Extraordinary support measures helped to contain contagion across markets, preventing the worst. But some measures have delayed the needed adjustments in the real economy and financial sector, where the reduction of leverage and balance sheet repair are far from complete. More...
Read complete 2010 Annual Report
2009: Rescue, recovery, reform
The 2008/09 Annual Report from the Bank for International Settlements reflects on the dramatic events affecting the world's financial system and economy over the preceding two years. The essential and complex system of finance has been critically damaged; trust has been lost. There were both macroeconomic and microeconomic causes of the collapse. The former included imbalances in international claims and a long period of low real interest rates, while the latter consisted of problems with incentives, risk measurement and regulation. More...
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2008: The unsustainable has run its course
After a number of years of strong global growth, low inflation and stable financial markets, the situation deteriorated rapidly in the period under review. Most notable was the onset of turmoil in the US market for subprime mortgages, which rapidly affected many other financial markets and eventually called into question the adequacy of capital at a number of large US and European banks. At the same time, US growth slowed markedly, reflecting setbacks in the housing market, while global inflation rose significantly under the particular influence of higher commodity prices. More...
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2007: Piecing the puzzle together
The favourable global economic performance seen in recent years extended into the period under review. Global growth was strong and there were even welcome signs of better balanced demand. The US economy slowed somewhat, largely due to a weaker housing sector, while domestic demand in Europe, Japan and a number of emerging market economies picked up. Although output in many countries seemed to be close to potential, and commodity prices rose still further, overall inflation pressures remained muted. More...
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2006: Resilience to mounting strains
Global growth last year was again very rapid, in spite of higher prices for energy and other commodities. Moreover, core inflation generally stayed low even as headline inflation rose. Yet, as the year wore on, fears began to grow about prospective inflationary pressures. Concerns also began to mount about the growing imbalances in the global economy, not least the low saving and high investment levels in the United States and China, respectively, and record current account imbalances. More...
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2005: So far, so good
Looking back over the past two decades, several global economic trends can be identified. Lower and less volatile inflation, accompanied by higher and less volatile output growth, were welcome features. Less welcome were growing external and internal imbalances, the latter leading to more frequent periods of financial stress often associated with rapid increases in credit, asset prices and fixed investment. More...
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2004: Time to rebalance?
The global slowdown earlier this decade was met with unusually strong fiscal and monetary stimulus in the industrial countries, especially in the United States. Policy was also eased in many emerging market economies, often in association with attempts to prevent the appreciation of their currencies against the US dollar. Higher asset prices and more favourable conditions in global financial markets, for much of the period under review, amplified the effects of policy easing and contributed to global economic growth that was much stronger than expected earlier. More...
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2003: An uncomfortable soft spot
The last year or so has been marked by economic disappointments. Interrelated developments in the geopolitical, economic and financial spheres held back growth and led to great uncertainty about the future. The recovery in the world economy seemed to stall. Indeed, the news got worse rather than better during most of the period under review. This was surprising to many given the high degree of policy stimulus being applied in large parts of the world. More...
Read complete 2003 Annual Report
