## Remarks by the IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva at the Paris Summit Closing Press Conference

_IMF News, June 23, 2023_

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## Bibliographic details
- Published: June 23, 2023

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### Opening summary: context and key messages
- Lightly edited after the delivery.
- Summit produced an “engaged and frank discussion.”
- World described as changing rapidly, affected by “more frequent and severe shocks” and increased tensions.
- Recent shocks cited: COVID, war.
- Economic consequences highlighted:
  - Interest rates are up.
  - Debt burdens are rising.
  - The cost of living is high.
  - Poverty and Inequality are increasing.
- Climate consequences are “upon us” and “hit hardest poor people in poor and vulnerable countries that have done the least to cause this problem.”
- Call to action: “It is time to step up… time for leadership.”

### Debt: priorities, progress, and tools
- Debt is a “top priority to ease the debt burden on countries, especially those who have been hit by exogenous shocks.”
- Progress noted:
  - G20 Common Framework delivering for Chad and for Zambia.
  - Countries outside the Common Framework benefiting, including Sri Lanka and Suriname.
  - The Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable now brings together traditional Paris Club creditors, non-Paris Club creditors (such as China, India, Saudi Arabia, Brazil), and the private sector together with debtor countries.
- Policy priorities and advocacy:
  - Accelerate debt restructuring.
  - Make debt restructuring predictable and timely.
  - Provide breathing space to debtor countries through debt suspension during negotiations.
  - Work on “debt for climate swaps” because “debt and climate are correlated and will become even more so.”
- Instruments and examples:
  - World Bank leadership on debt suspension clauses in programs.
  - IMF Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust allows direct debt relief to poorer countries when hit by shocks; used mostly for COVID and intended to be used for climate shocks as well.

### Climate: integration into IMF work and carbon pricing
- Assertion: “The IMF has over the last years, integrated climate considerations into everything we do, because climate is macro-critical.”
- Areas of integration:
  - Fiscal policy.
  - Monetary policy.
  - Data.
  - Financial instrument(s).
- Carbon pricing advocacy:
  - “Without a carbon price, there is no chance that we will meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius target by 2030. We will miss it.”
  - Call for an inclusive approach that includes taxes, trade, and regulatory actions, provided they “deliver the right trajectory: upwards on the carbon price.”
  - Proposed carbon price floor with differentiated incidence:
    - “poorer countries pay less, middle-income countries more, and rich countries, of course, have the highest price.”
  - Note on progress in coverage:
    - Five years ago, carbon pricing covered 17 percent of global emissions.
    - Now it covers around 25 percent of global emissions.
    - “There is only 75 percent more to go.”

### Financing: the Resilience and Sustainability Trust and SDR channeling
- New IMF instrument: Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST).
  - Lends long-term affordable financing with a 20-year repayment period and 10-and-a-half year grace period.
  - First time in IMF history to provide this tenor of lending.
- Funding mechanism:
  - Funded by countries that committed part of their new SDR allocation to the IMF for this purpose.
  - Example: France provided support; the IMF “look[s] forward to the U.S. contributing.”
- Pledge status and deployment:
  - Commitment pledged in 2021: the pledge of US$100 billion in SDR channeling.
  - Around US$60 billion of this pledge is already working at the IMF in the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust and in the Resilience and Sustainability Trust.
- Operational impact and partnerships:
  - Announcements made for Barbados and for Rwanda as recipients.
  - Partnerships include the World Bank Group, the Inter-American Development Bank, national development banks, and analysis from the IMF’s “sister institution.”
  - Seven countries have benefited; 40 countries expressing interest.
- Ambition increase:
  - IMF is “lifting our ambition to increase by 50 percent the size of the Resilience and Sustainability Trust” to better respond to needs.

### Closing reflections and institutional change
- Personal reflection on Bretton Woods origins: initial conference room had 44 countries; delegations led by men; many arrived by boat.
- Global change since then:
  - “Number of countries in the world has more than doubled.”
  - “Number of people more than tripled.”
  - “Global GDP increased more than 10 times.”
- Institutional imperative: IMF must change as the world changes — to be “more inclusive, more representative, well-resourced, and serving our members with professionalism and empathy.”
- Commitment: “I completely and totally commit to changing for the future with you, our members.”

*Source: Remarks by the IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva at the Paris Summit Closing Press Conference, June 23, 2023.*

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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/2023/06/23/sp062323-mdremarks-paris-summit-closing-presser_