Joint IMF-RFAs Press Release on the 7th High-level RFA Dialogue

IMF News, October 12, 2022

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Canonical URL: Joint IMF-RFAs Press Release on the 7th High-level RFA Dialogue

Date and location: 12 October 2022 in Washington DC.
Context: Held amidst a highly uncertain global outlook and slowing growth.
Main focus: Strengthening cooperation to confront multiple shocks testing global economic resilience and contributing to a stronger Global Financial Safety Net (GFSN).

Participants: The IMF and the heads of RFAs (the Arab Monetary Fund, the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office cum the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation, represented by the People’s Bank of China as its 2022 co-chair, the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement, represented by the South African Reserve Bank, the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development, the European Commission, the European Stability Mechanism, and the Latin American Reserve Fund).
Exchange of views: Discussed global and regional conjunctures and risks going forward.
G20 engagement: The French co-chair of the G20 International Financial Architecture Working Group updated participants on the group’s priorities, including supporting vulnerable economies and increasing the resilience of the international financial architecture.

RFAs reaffirmed commitment to cooperate closely to help members overcome difficult challenges in a period of heightened fragility and multiple shocks.
RFAs stressed the urgency of concerted and continued action at global, regional, and national levels to adapt to and build resilience against climate risks while capturing opportunities from a greener economy.
Recognized that no region will be spared from the impacts of climate change and that many parts of the world are already experiencing more frequent and severe extreme weather events that disrupt lives and livelihoods.

Ongoing progress outlined to integrate climate considerations into RFA operations, in accordance with individual mandates and policies.
RFA efforts focus on:
- Building up internal analytical and technical expertise.
- Enhancing monitoring capabilities to better account for climate vulnerabilities and risks.
- Disseminating and sharing information across memberships.
- Greening internal policies to support social and environmental responsibilities through various activities such as portfolio investments.

IMF provided its view on the confluence of challenges facing the global economy and its readiness to deploy and continuously adapt its toolkit to ensure effectiveness.
Highlighted recent efforts to support members’ climate change mitigation, adaptation, and transition to a low-carbon economy, including:
- Adoption of a climate strategy, envisioning a greater focus of the Fund’s surveillance on climate-related issues.
- Stronger focus on the climate-financial nexus and enhancement of Fund’s analytical and capacity development work on climate, including through the production of climate macroeconomic assessments.
Resilience and Sustainability Trust:
- IMF updated RFAs on the Resilience and Sustainability Trust, approved in April this year, which enhances the Fund toolkit by providing affordable, long-term financing to help vulnerable countries build their resilience to long-term challenges to balance of payments stability, such as climate change or pandemics.
Collaboration framework: IMF stood ready to continue strong collaboration with RFAs based on the comprehensive 2017 Framework for Collaboration Between RFAs and the IMF.

AfDB presented a proposal to establish a regional financial stabilisation mechanism in Africa.
Potential role: If set up, this regional safety net could complement the existing international financial architecture, creating an additional buffer for concerned countries to protect against external shocks.
RFAs shared insights and lessons learnt on the creation and development of their own institutions to inform AfDB’s proposal.

The seventh joint RFA Research Seminar will be held in Colombia in the first half of 2023.
The eighth High-level RFA Dialogue will be convened at the time of the next IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in October 2023.

Joint IMF-RFAs Press Release on the 7th High-level RFA Dialogue, October 12, 2022. IMF Communications Department.