## Managing Director’s Speaking Points at 2020 Spring Meetings IMFC Plenary

_IMF News, April 16, 2020_

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**Canonical URL:** [Managing Director’s Speaking Points at 2020 Spring Meetings IMFC Plenary](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2020/04/16/sp041620-managing-director-speaking-points-at-imfc)

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## Bibliographic details
- Published: April 16, 2020

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### Opening
- As prepared for delivery. Opening line: "Thank you, Governor. Good morning."
- Framing: "We meet during exceptional times. And exceptional times call for exceptional action."
- Emphasis on global cooperation: "More than ever, we must work together to respond to this unprecedented crisis and prepare for recovery."

### Outlook
- Characterization of the crisis:
  - "More complex, with interlinked shocks to our health and our economies that have brought our way of life to a complete stop;"
  - "More uncertain, as we are learning only gradually how to treat the novel virus, make containment most effective, and restart our economies;"
  - "Truly global. Pandemics don’t respect borders, neither does the economic shock they cause."
- Projections and scope:
  - "We expect global economic activity to decline on a scale we have not seen since the Great Depression."
  - "This year 170 countries will see income per capita go down – only months ago we were projecting 160 economies to register positive per capita income growth."
- Institutional response required: "This is an unprecedented crisis that calls for a comprehensive approach by our institution."

### Actions Taken
- Strengthening IMF lending capacity:
  - "Thanks to your wise actions to strengthen the financial capacity of the IMF with the New Arrangements to Borrow and the Bilateral Borrowing Arrangements, we have $1 trillion lending capacity – 4 times more than at the outset of the Global Financial Crisis."
- Surveillance and analysis:
  - Combined "macroeconomic policy analysis with epidemiological modelling to disentangle the path of the virus and its impact on health and economic systems."
  - Early guidance on severity of the downturn; added scenario analysis to reflect unusual uncertainty.
- Monitoring and policy advice:
  - Tracked policy actions across "193 economies" to develop policy advice and share good practices aimed at slowing the outbreak, protecting people and jobs, and safeguarding macro-financial stability.
- Rapid lending and demand:
  - "We doubled annual access limits for our rapid disbursing vehicles."
  - "More than 100 countries have approached us for emergency financing, and the Board will have considered about half of these requests by the end of the month."
- Coordination with other institutions:
  - Working "with the World Bank and other international financial institutions" to maximize collective impact and support targeted use of resources with good governance.
- Capacity development:
  - "Over 90 countries have already benefited from our capacity development, which has been closely integrated with our policy advice."
- Debt relief and creditor coordination:
  - "We revamped the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust to help 29 of our poorest and most vulnerable members through rapid debt service relief."
  - Welcome G20 leadership on agreement "on official bilateral creditors to suspend debt service obligations" and call for private sector creditors to participate on comparable terms.
- Convening and collaboration example:
  - Co-hosting with the World Bank a high-level "Mobilization with Africa" event.

### Preventing a Protracted Recession
- Strategic orientation: "We need to think hard about where this crisis is headed and how we can be ready to help our members, being mindful of both risks and opportunities."
- Concerns for emerging markets and developing countries:
  - "They have experienced the sharpest portfolio flow reversal on record of about 100 billion dollars."
  - Commodity-dependent countries hit by plummeting export prices; tourism-dependent countries experiencing collapse of revenues; remittance-reliant countries affected.
- Liquidity and lending responses:
  - For some countries: temporary liquidity pressures; Fund established a new "Short-term Liquidity Line."
  - For emerging economies: engage through regular facilities, including precautionary mechanisms; may require considerable resources if further market pressures arise.
  - Prepare to deploy "our full lending capacity" and mobilize "all layers of the global financial safety net."
- Support for poorest members:
  - Objective: "We aim to triple our concessional lending and are urgently seeking 17 billion dollars in new loan resources for the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust."
  - "We will also likely need at least 1.8 billion dollars in subsidy resources."
  - Consideration of how use of SDRs could be more helpful.
- Debt sustainability and alternative approaches:
  - Recognition that "more lending may not always be the best solution" given high debt burdens.
  - Need to "contemplate new approaches, working closely with other international institutions and fora, as well as the private sector" and consider "extraordinary measures" temporarily in this unprecedented crisis.

### Preparing for Recovery
- Policy advice adaptation:
  - By October Annual Meetings, need "a better understanding of the challenges, risks and tradeoffs facing our membership as they gradually restart their economies."
- Key policy questions to address:
  - How long to maintain extraordinary stimulus and unconventional policy measures, and how to unwind them.
  - Dealing with high unemployment and ever "lower-for-longer" interest rates.
  - Preserving financial stability; facilitating sectoral adjustment and private sector debt workouts where needed.
- Broader structural priorities:
  - Reignite trade as an engine for growth.
  - "Sharing the benefits of fintech and digital transformation which have demonstrated their usefulness during this crisis."
  - Combat climate change where stimulus to reinforce the recovery could advance a green economy.
- Social cohesion and inclusion:
  - Support countries in calibrating social policies to "reduce inequality, protect vulnerable people, and promote access to opportunities for all."

### Final Remarks
- Uncertainty acknowledged: "There is much uncertainty about the shape of our future."
- Opportunity and collective action: "But we can and we must embrace this crisis also as an opportunity to craft this future together."
- Institutional confidence: "As we discussed at the last Annual Meetings, we have successfully worked together through more than 75 years of transitions. We have overcome numerous challenges and we will do so again."
- Closing: "Thank you."

*Managing Director’s Speaking Points at 2020 Spring Meetings IMFC Plenary — April 16, 2020*

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## References

- [https://www.imf.org/en/about/senior-officials/bios/kristalina-georgieva](https://www.imf.org/en/about/senior-officials/bios/kristalina-georgieva)
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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2020/04/16/sp041620-managing-director-speaking-points-at-imfc_