Fourth Financing for Development (FfD4) Conference Opening Session: Keynote Speech by DMD Nigel Clarke
IMF News, June 30, 2025
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- Published: June 30, 2025
Context and setting
- Event: Fourth Financing for Development (FfD4) Conference Opening Session — Keynote Speech by DMD Nigel Clarke.
- Location and date: Seville, Spain; June 30, 2025.
- Presented on behalf of: International Monetary Fund.
Main assessment of the global environment
- The global economy’s resilience is being tested amid escalating uncertainty and major policy shifts.
- Trade policy uncertainty indicators remain “off the charts” despite progress on trade talks and scaling back of some tariffs.
- Developing countries face increased risks:
- Downside risks to short-term and longer-term growth prospects.
- Risks of tightened financing conditions.
- Risks to their development agenda, including cuts in overseas development assistance.
Three critical priorities (one country-level, two international-level)
- Country-level priority: implement strong domestic reforms.
- Two critical reform areas:
- Domestic revenues: broaden the tax base and improve compliance to boost domestic resources.
- Public financial management: build strong systems to redirect spending toward health, education, well-targeted social safety nets, and growth-enhancing public investments.
- International-level priority 1: ensure coordinated and tailored support to development.
- Development partners should provide policy advice, capacity building, and financial support tailored to countries’ individual circumstances.
- Concessional financing remains critically important for the poorest and most fragile countries, which are often hit hardest by global shocks.
- International-level priority 2: address debt vulnerabilities.
- Current assessment: risk of a systemic debt crisis seems broadly contained for now, but many countries face high interest costs and refinancing needs that crowd out development spending.
- Need: further improve debt restructuring processes to ensure timely and sufficiently deep debt relief for countries with unsustainable debt.
IMF actions and commitments
- Policy advice:
- Continue strengthening analysis and guidance on monetary, fiscal, exchange rate, and financial sector policies to make economies more vibrant and more resilient.
- Capacity development:
- Continue helping members build tools and expertise, working closely with other development partners.
- Lending instruments:
- Provide financial support when members need it.
- Last Fall, the Fund reformed its concessional lending framework to double its lending capacity while restoring its self-sustainability.
- Continue exploring ways to strengthen precautionary facilities and ensure well-designed programs.
- Debt work:
- Provide technical support to individual restructurings.
- Advance work with the World Bank at the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable.
- Implement the “three-pillar approach” to help countries with sustainable debt and strong reform agendas but where high debt service crowds out productive spending.
- Overall commitment:
- The IMF will continue to help members achieve economic and financial stability, a prerequisite for reaching development objectives, and to remain a trusted partner and champion for the international development agenda.
Call to action for the conference
- The conference is timely and important to take decisive steps to accelerate development progress at both country and international levels.
- Emphasis on coordinated action to support tailored country needs, protect the poorest and most fragile, and improve debt restructuring mechanisms.
Fourth Financing for Development (FfD4) Conference Opening Session: Keynote Speech by DMD Nigel Clarke, Seville, Spain, June 30, 2025