{ "title": "Fourth Financing for Development (FfD4) Conference Opening Session: Keynote Speech by DMD Nigel Clarke", "publication": "IMF News, June 30, 2025", "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2025/06/30/sp063025-ffd4-conference-opening-session-keynote-speech-dmd-nigel-clarke", "canonical": "https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2025/06/30/sp063025-ffd4-conference-opening-session-keynote-speech-dmd-nigel-clarke", "overlayPath": "/en/news/articles/2025/06/30/sp063025-ffd4-conference-opening-session-keynote-speech-dmd-nigel-clarke/index.md", "summary": "Keynote Speech by DMD Nigel Clarke at the Fourth Financing for Development (FfD4) Conference Opening Session", "publishDate": "2025-06-30", "sections": [ { "heading": "Context and setting", "content": "- Event: Fourth Financing for Development (FfD4) Conference Opening Session — Keynote Speech by DMD Nigel Clarke.\n- Location and date: Seville, Spain; June 30, 2025.\n- Presented on behalf of: International Monetary Fund." }, { "heading": "Main assessment of the global environment", "content": "- The global economy’s resilience is being tested amid escalating uncertainty and major policy shifts.\n- Trade policy uncertainty indicators remain “off the charts” despite progress on trade talks and scaling back of some tariffs.\n- Developing countries face increased risks:\n - Downside risks to short-term and longer-term growth prospects.\n - Risks of tightened financing conditions.\n - Risks to their development agenda, including cuts in overseas development assistance." }, { "heading": "Three critical priorities (one country-level, two international-level)", "content": "- Country-level priority: implement strong domestic reforms.\n - Two critical reform areas:\n - Domestic revenues: broaden the tax base and improve compliance to boost domestic resources.\n - Public financial management: build strong systems to redirect spending toward health, education, well-targeted social safety nets, and growth-enhancing public investments.\n- International-level priority 1: ensure coordinated and tailored support to development.\n - Development partners should provide policy advice, capacity building, and financial support tailored to countries’ individual circumstances.\n - Concessional financing remains critically important for the poorest and most fragile countries, which are often hit hardest by global shocks.\n- International-level priority 2: address debt vulnerabilities.\n - 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.\n - Need: further improve debt restructuring processes to ensure timely and sufficiently deep debt relief for countries with unsustainable debt." }, { "heading": "IMF actions and commitments", "content": "- Policy advice:\n - Continue strengthening analysis and guidance on monetary, fiscal, exchange rate, and financial sector policies to make economies more vibrant and more resilient.\n- Capacity development:\n - Continue helping members build tools and expertise, working closely with other development partners.\n- Lending instruments:\n - Provide financial support when members need it.\n - Last Fall, the Fund reformed its concessional lending framework to double its lending capacity while restoring its self-sustainability.\n - Continue exploring ways to strengthen precautionary facilities and ensure well-designed programs.\n- Debt work:\n - Provide technical support to individual restructurings.\n - Advance work with the World Bank at the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable.\n - Implement the “three-pillar approach” to help countries with sustainable debt and strong reform agendas but where high debt service crowds out productive spending.\n- Overall commitment:\n - 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." }, { "heading": "Call to action for the conference", "content": "- The conference is timely and important to take decisive steps to accelerate development progress at both country and international levels.\n- Emphasis on coordinated action to support tailored country needs, protect the poorest and most fragile, and improve debt restructuring mechanisms.\n\nFourth Financing for Development (FfD4) Conference Opening Session: Keynote Speech by DMD Nigel Clarke, Seville, Spain, June 30, 2025\n\n---\n\n\n References\n\n- Nigel Clarke\n- Proposals for a Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism (SDRM) -- A Factsheet\n- Speeches\n- PRESS CENTER\n- https://www.imf.org/en/home\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2025/06/30/sp063025-ffd4-conference-opening-session-keynote-speech-dmd-nigel-clarke" } ], "bullets": [ "[Markdown version](/en/news/articles/2025/06/30/sp063025-ffd4-conference-opening-session-keynote-speech-dmd-nigel-clarke/index.md)", "[Structured JSON version](/en/news/articles/2025/06/30/sp063025-ffd4-conference-opening-session-keynote-speech-dmd-nigel-clarke/index.json)", "[Bundle manifest](/en/news/articles/2025/06/30/sp063025-ffd4-conference-opening-session-keynote-speech-dmd-nigel-clarke/bundle-manifest.json)", "Published: June 30, 2025", "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.", "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:", "Country-level priority: implement strong domestic reforms.", "International-level priority 1: ensure coordinated and tailored support to development.", "International-level priority 2: address debt vulnerabilities.", "Policy advice:", "Capacity development:", "Lending instruments:", "Debt work:", "Overall commitment:", "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.", "[Nigel Clarke](https://www.imf.org/en/about/senior-officials/bios/nigel-clarke)", "[Proposals for a Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism (SDRM) -- A Factsheet](https://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/sdrm.htm)", "[Speeches](https://www.imf.org/en/news/searchnews)", "[PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)", "[https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)" ], "alternates": { "markdown": "/en/news/articles/2025/06/30/sp063025-ffd4-conference-opening-session-keynote-speech-dmd-nigel-clarke/index.md", "json": "/en/news/articles/2025/06/30/sp063025-ffd4-conference-opening-session-keynote-speech-dmd-nigel-clarke/index.json", "bundleManifest": "/en/news/articles/2025/06/30/sp063025-ffd4-conference-opening-session-keynote-speech-dmd-nigel-clarke/bundle-manifest.json" }, "generatedAtUtc": "2026-09-26T03:59:57.606Z" }