Spring Meetings: Members Committed to Supporting IMF Global Agenda

The IMF’s Spring Meetings ended in mid-April with its members’ reassurances to support the Fund’s Global Policy Agenda to address three priorities: (1) safeguarding economic and financial stability; (2) supporting vulnerable countries and (3) sustaining our future prosperity by tackling climate change and digitalization. “These meetings conclude with an enhanced commitment by members to coordinate our economic policies, to reinforce our global financial safety net, and to work together in a constructive manner to deliver on our shared road map,” said Spain’s First Vice President Nadia Calvino, Chair of the International Monetary and Financial Committee which advises the IMF’s decision-making body the Board of Governors. During the week-long meetings, the members made progress in debt restructuring through a roundtable and other country-specific discussions and in narrowing funding gaps for the Fund’s lending facilities for vulnerable members. The IMFC will next meet in October at the Annual Meetings in Marrakech. Read the Chair’s statement.

IMF Flagship Publications Released to Share Analyses and Policy Advice

During the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings to discuss pressing issues in financial stability and economic development, the IMF released its flagship publications to share its analytical work. With the latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF projects global growth to fall from last year’s 3.4% to 2.8% in 2023 before rising to 3% in 2024. The slowdown is concentrated in advanced economies while Asia’s growth remains robust with the region contributing to more than 70 % of global growth this year. Meanwhile, the global financial system is being tested and risks to bank and nonbank financial firms have increased amid rapid interest-rate increases aimed at containing inflation, according to the new Global Financial Stability Report. The latest Fiscal Monitor suggests that governments should pursue consistent fiscal and monetary policies to bring inflation back to target, address public finance risks while protecting the most vulnerable, and safeguard financial stability. Read related blogs on WEO, GFSR and FM.

Discussions on Sovereign Debt Sustainability and Restructuring Progressed

Discussions at a roundtable on sovereign debt issues in mid-April made “tangible progress”, according to a co-chairs’ statement issued on April 12. Another round of the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable, launched jointly by the IMF, the World Bank and the G20 Presidency back in late February, brought together both Paris Club and non-Paris Club creditors as well as major debtor countries and private sector creditors to find ways to resolve debt challenges. The participants agreed on the importance of sharing information, including on macroeconomic projections and debt sustainability assessments, at an early stage in the process, and decided to organize a workshop on how to assess and enforce comparability of treatment in order to clarify key concepts to support predictability and fairness of debt restructuring processes. Read the statement.