Press Release No. 09/199

Press Release: IMF Deputy Managing Director Murilo Portugal Praises Progress in Preparations for the 2009 Annual Meetings in Istanbul

June 7, 2009

Mr. Murilo Portugal, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), today met with Turkish authorities in Istanbul to discuss preparations for the 2009 Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors of the World Bank and IMF, scheduled for October 6-7, 2009. Mr. Portugal, who was accompanied by Mr. G. Russell Kincaid, Acting Secretary of the IMF, met with representatives of the Government’s Planning Team and private sector representatives developing the facilities for the Meetings at Congress Valley.

“All eyes will be on Istanbul. The Annual Meetings are a unique opportunity for the ministers of finance and central bank governors from the 185 members of the IMF to discuss issues of great global economic importance, make decisions and provide guidance on the work agenda of the two institutions,” Mr. Portugal said. “We are impressed with the progress made to date by the Turkish authorities in preparations for the Meetings, and their continued efforts will facilitate the success of this important event,” he added.

Participants in the Annual Meetings will discuss the outlook for the global economy, developments in financial markets, the impact of the financial crisis, including on low-income countries, and the policy responses of member countries and the international community to the crisis.

The global economic outlook, crisis management and resolution, and governance issues will also be discussed by the policy-guiding bodies of the IMF and the World Bank, as well as by various country groups, such as the Group of Twenty (G20) industrialized and emerging market economies ―of which Turkey is a member, the Group of Seven (G7), and the Group of Twenty Four (G24).

In addition, the Annual Meetings are a forum for dialogue among policy makers and representatives from the private sector and civil society. The Program of Seminars and the Civil Society Forum, in particular, provide opportunities for discussion of the issues being addressed at the event.

This will be the second time that the Annual Meetings are held in Turkey ―the first time was in 1955, making the country the only one to host the Meetings twice since the World Bank and IMF were created in 1946.