Chair’s Statement Forty-Ninth Meeting of the IMFC
IMF News, April 19, 2024
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- Published: April 19, 2024
Macroeconomic outlook and risks
- A soft landing for the global economy "appears to be drawing closer."
- Economic activity has "proved more resilient than expected in many parts of the world," but "continues to diverge across countries."
- Medium-term global growth prospects remain weak.
- Ongoing wars and conflicts (including the war in Ukraine, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and shipping disruptions in the Red Sea) "have significant impacts on the global economy."
- Inflation has fallen in most regions due to the unwinding of supply shocks and the effects of tight monetary policy, but "its persistence warrants caution."
- Risks to the outlook are "broadly balanced" but downside risks remain, hinging on:
- near-term paths for inflation and interest rates,
- asset prices and financial stability,
- fiscal policy actions,
- geopolitical developments.
- Structural challenges noted: climate change, elevated debt vulnerabilities, rising inequality, and the risk of geoeconomic fragmentation.
Policy priorities and recommended actions
- Core policy priorities:
- achieve price stability,
- strengthen fiscal sustainability,
- safeguard financial stability,
- promote inclusive and sustainable growth.
- Fiscal policy guidance:
- proceed with rebuilding fiscal buffers,
- tailor actions to country-specific circumstances,
- protect the most vulnerable and growth-enhancing investment.
- Monetary policy guidance:
- central banks remain strongly committed to achieving price stability,
- continue to calibrate policies in a data-dependent manner,
- communicate policy objectives clearly to limit negative spillovers.
- Financial stability and supervision:
- monitor risks for both banks and nonbanks, including from property markets,
- address data, supervisory, and regulatory gaps in the financial sector, especially nonbank financial institutions,
- stand ready to deploy macroprudential policy tools to mitigate systemic risks.
- Structural reforms:
- accelerate targeted and well-sequenced supply-enhancing structural reforms to ease binding constraints, boost productivity, increase labor market participation, promote social cohesion, and support green and digital transitions.
- International cooperation:
- act collectively, as appropriate, to support climate and digital transitions, including artificial intelligence, while accounting for country-specific circumstances,
- reiterate commitments on exchange rates, addressing excessive global imbalances, governance, and the rules-based multilateral trading system (reaffirming commitment to avoid protectionist measures),
- continue strengthening the global financial safety net and addressing global debt vulnerabilities,
- continue supporting vulnerable countries undertaking reforms and addressing financing needs.
IMF governance, resources, and institutional mandates
- Support for the Managing Director’s Global Policy Agenda (GPA) and expectation that the IMF will carry out this work in line with its mandate and leveraging collaboration with others.
- Surveillance:
- support for IMF surveillance focused on country-tailored advice to help members assess risks, bolster policy and institutional frameworks, and calibrate macrofinancial and macrostructural policies to rebuild buffers and boost inclusive and sustainable growth.
- underscore importance of assessing risks and vulnerabilities associated with transformative trends reshaping the global economy, in line with the Fund’s mandate.
- Quotas and Fund resources:
- reaffirm commitment to a strong, quota-based, and adequately resourced IMF at the center of the global financial safety net.
- completion of the 16th General Review of Quotas (GRQ) increased the Fund’s quota resources by 50 percent.
- members are "expeditiously working to secure domestic approvals for our consent to the quota increases by mid-November this year."
- New Arrangement to Borrow (NAB) participants among members are working to secure domestic approvals by the same deadline for a reduction in the size of their NABs.
- As a safeguard, creditors for Bilateral Borrowing Agreements are working to secure domestic approvals for transitional arrangements for maintaining access to bilateral borrowing in case of delay in securing timely consent to the quota increase.
- call on the Executive Board to work to deliver, by June 2025, possible approaches as a guide for further quota realignment, including through a new quota formula, under the 17th GRQ.
- Concessional financing and trusts:
- look forward to the review of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) facilities and financing to help meet LICs’ balance of payments needs and to put the PRGT on a sustainable footing by exploring all options, including the use of internal resources and reform of lending policies.
- look forward to the interim review of the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST).
- thank economically stronger members for voluntary contributions and encourage further broad-based contributions to the IMF’s concessional facilities and to the RST.
- Other IMF policy reviews:
- look forward to the review of Surcharges Policy;
- look forward to the comprehensive review of General Resources Account Access Limits;
- look forward to the initiation of the Review of Program Design and Conditionality.
- Debt treatment and restructuring:
- support the IMF helping countries durably address debt vulnerabilities.
- welcome progress on debt restructurings under the G20 Common Framework (CF) and beyond.
- remain committed to addressing global debt vulnerabilities in an effective, comprehensive, and systematic manner, including stepping up the CF’s implementation in a predictable, timely, orderly, and coordinated manner, and enhancing debt transparency.
- welcome the ongoing work at the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable and look forward to the review of the IMF-World Bank Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries.
- Capacity development:
- support continued efforts to strengthen IMF capacity development (CD) and to secure appropriate financing.
- welcome the launch of the Global Public Finance Partnership to respond to growing demand for CD on public finances and support the development of a Domestic Resource Mobilization Initiative, in collaboration with the World Bank.
- Board representation, talent, and diversity:
- look forward to welcoming in November this year a new 25th chair on the IMF Executive Board for Sub-Saharan Africa to improve their voice and representation and the overall balance of regional representation at the Board.
- support strengthened efforts to attract and develop talent, improve staff diversity and inclusion, and address challenges identified in the FY2022-FY2023 Diversity & Inclusion Report.
- reiterate commitment to strengthen gender diversity in the Executive Board, welcome newly established voluntary objectives to increase the number of women in leadership positions at the Board, and agree to take action to achieve these objectives.
Governance changes and acknowledgements
- The IMFC "expresses its deep appreciation to Nadia Calviño for her leadership as IMFC Chair and welcomes Minister of Finance Mohammed Aljadaan as the new Chair."
- Appreciation to Ms. Kristalina Georgieva "for her dedicated service as IMF Managing Director during her tenure" and welcome of "her selection to serve for a second five-year term."
- Next IMFC meeting is expected to be held in October 2024.
Attendance (Friday, April 19, 2024, Washington, D. C.)
- Chair: Mohammed Aljadaan, Minister of Finance, Saudi Arabia
- Managing Director: Kristalina Georgieva
- Members or Alternates (selected listing as provided in the statement):
- Ayman Alsayari, Governor of the Saudi Central Bank, Saudi Arabia (Alternate for Mohammed Aljadaan, Minister of Finance, Saudi Arabia)
- Mohammed bin Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, United Arab Emirates
- Luis Caputo, Minister of Economy, Argentina
- Jim Chalmers, Treasurer of Australia
- Carlos Cuerpo, Minister of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, Spain
- Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Canada
- Giancarlo Giorgetti, Minister of Economy and Finance, Italy
- Fernando Haddad, Minister of Finance, Brazil
- Robert Holzmann, Governor of the Austrian National Bank, Austria
- Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, H.M. Treasury, United Kingdom
- Karin Keller-Sutter, Minister of Finance, Switzerland
- Lesetja Kganyago, Governor, South African Reserve Bank, South Africa
- François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Bank of France (Alternate for Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, Finance and the Recovery, France)
- Christian Lindner, Federal Minister of Finance, Germany
- Mays Mouissi, Minister of Economy and Participations, Gabon
- Gongsheng Pan, Governor of the People's Bank of China
- Riikka Purra, Minister of Finance, Finland
- Anton Siluanov, Minister of Finance, Russian Federation
- Shaktikanta Das, Governor, Reserve Bank of India (Alternate for Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance, India)
- Alisara Mahasandana, Deputy Governor, Bank of Thailand (Alternate for Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, Governor, Bank of Thailand)
- Shunichi Suzuki, Minister of Finance, Japan
- Salah-Eddine Taleb, Governor, Bank of Algeria
- Steven van Weyenberg, Minister of Finance, The Netherlands
- Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury, United States
- Observers (selected listing as provided in the statement):
- Agustín Carstens, General Manager, Bank for International Settlements (BIS)
- Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini, Chair, Development Committee (DC) and Minister of State for Financial Affairs, United Arab Emirates
- Christine Lagarde, President, European Central Bank (ECB)
- Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice President, European Commission (EC)
- Klaas Knot, Chair, Financial Stability Board (FSB) and President of De Nederlandsche Bank
- Laura Thompson, Assistant Director General, International Labour Organization (ILO)
- Clare Lombardelli, Chief Economist, The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
- Joerg Spitzy, Senior Research Analyst, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
- Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, United Nations (UN)
- Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
- Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, The World Bank (WB)
- Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO)
Press Release No. 24/122 — April 19, 2024 — INTERNATIONAL MONETARY AND FINANCIAL COMMITTEE