2024 Annual Meetings - Address by the Chair of the Boards of Governors
IMF News, October 25, 2024
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- Published: October 25, 2024
Opening and framing
- Speaker: H.E. Ahmed Munawar, Governor of the Maldives Monetary Authority.
- Event: 2024 Plenary of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group.
- Date: October 25, 2024.
- Key framing points:
- Celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Bretton Woods Institutions.
- Invocation of John W. Snyder’s warning: “We must not fail our governments and, above all, the hopeful people we represent.”
- Chairing by a small state (the Maldives) highlighted as a sign of inclusivity.
Global economic outlook
- Observations:
- Despite tighter financial conditions and rising geopolitical tensions, the global economy is showing remarkable strength.
- A soft landing is described as being within reach.
- Inflation is moderating.
- Uncertainty remains high, with ongoing conflicts and upheavals posing risks, particularly via higher commodity prices.
Major challenges highlighted
- Climate change
- Small countries like the Maldives are described as on the front lines of climate change.
- Maldives target: 33% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2028.
- Required investment to upgrade power infrastructure: around 1.3 billion dollars.
- Donor pledges to date: 13% of required funds.
- IMF and World Bank actions referenced:
- IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Fund.
- World Bank’s climate finance: 42.6 billion dollars in fiscal year 2024.
- Calls:
- International financial institutions should provide easier and affordable climate finance for adaptation and mitigation on the principles of a just energy transition.
- Need to mobilize private sector investments innovatively.
- Debt sustainability
- Over two-thirds of emerging markets and developing economies are at high risk of debt distress.
- The Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable has encouraged collaboration, but more action is needed.
- Recommendations:
- Debt sustainability analysis must better account for country context.
- The ongoing review of the Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries should consider the specific needs of SIDS.
- IMF, World Bank, and MDBs should take bold steps to support countries in debt distress.
- MDBs can create tools like debt-for-climate swaps (exchanging debt relief for climate adaptation investments).
- Structural reforms
- Need to strengthen productive and state capacities of emerging and developing economies.
- Bretton Woods Institutions should focus more on:
- Job creation.
- Equal opportunities.
- Economic diversification.
- The impact of refugee flows.
- Emphasis that structural reforms must be socially acceptable and ensure benefits are widely shared.
Institutional initiatives and resource issues
- Recent and ongoing institution-level actions:
- Completion of the 16th General Review of Quotas.
- IDA21 Replenishment.
- Discussions on quota realignment and strengthening World Bank Group financing.
- Review of the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, Charges and Surcharge Policy.
- Governance and representation:
- Importance of providing adequate access and representation to countries most in need of MDB support.
- Call for evenhanded treatment across membership.
- Welcome of Liechtenstein as the IMF’s hundred and ninety-first member earlier in the week.
- Noted the addition of the 25th Chair at the IMF’s Executive Board for Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Urged fellow Governors to champion gender diversity and equality.
Multilateralism and concluding call to action
- Central theme: the critical need for multilateral cooperation; “collective action is the antidote to an increasingly fragmented world.”
- The 80th anniversary is presented as a moment to reflect on achievements and plan for a better future together.
- Final admonition: Bretton Woods Institutions should tailor advice and activities to meet the specific needs and capacities of each member; failure to do so equals failing the people the institutions represent.
- Closing commitment: reaffirmation of commitment to macroeconomic stability, prosperity, and cooperation.
H.E. Ahmed Munawar, Governor of the Maldives Monetary Authority — October 25, 2024.