WASHINGTON听–听The International Monetary Fund and听奥辞谤濒诲听叠补苍办听on Thursday issued a rare joint statement pledging to听蝉迟别辫听耻辫听their听肠辞辞辫别谤补迟颈辞苍听to address听肠濒颈尘补迟别听change,听诲别产迟听vulnerabilities and countries’听诲颈驳颈迟补濒听transitions.
罢丑别听statement, released ahead聽of a G20 leaders summit in India this week, said the two institutions can help address mounting challenges facing the global economy – from increasing听肠濒颈尘补迟别听disasters to slowing growth and geopolitical fragmentation – by working together.
“The Bretton Woods institutions, with their universal membership and specialist expertise, are well-placed to make a critical contribution to help countries tackle these challenges,”听滨惭贵听Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and听奥辞谤濒诲听叠补苍办听President Ajay Banga said in the joint statement.
The听滨惭贵听and听奥辞谤濒诲听叠补苍办听were established in 1944 at a meeting in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.
Mr. Banga is scheduled to attend his first G20 summit after starting as the听奥辞谤濒诲听Bank‘s new president in June, with a mandate to expand the lender’s resources to help tackle听肠濒颈尘补迟别听change, pandemics, fragility and other global crises alongside its traditional anti-poverty mission.
US President Joe Biden at the G20 summit intends to 聽and other multilateral development lenders to scale聽耻辫听their lending for听肠濒颈尘补迟别听and infrastructure. The US sees the institution as an important counterbalance to China’s overseas lending.
The joint听滨惭贵–奥辞谤濒诲听叠补苍办听statement said the two institutions would collaborate on听肠濒颈尘补迟别听change on a “more structured and institutionalized footing.This includes formalizing regular meetings of the new听叠补苍办-Fund听颁濒颈尘补迟别听Advisory Gro耻辫听every two months to consider听肠濒颈尘补迟别-related developments on key projects, including loans聽through the听滨惭贵‘s new Resilience and Sustainability Trust, which provides middle-income countries with financing on听肠濒颈尘补迟别听resilience and听迟谤补苍蝉颈迟颈辞苍听projects.
顿贰叠罢听VULNERABILITIES
The two institutions also said they will incorporate听肠濒颈尘补迟别听considerations into their work on听诲别产迟听sustainability for low-income countries.
The听滨惭贵听and听奥辞谤濒诲听叠补苍办听have worked closely on听诲别产迟听sustainability issues, both pushing for improved restructuring frameworks. They launched a sovereign听诲别产迟听roundtable last year to standardize restructuring concepts and speed聽耻辫听诲别产迟听treatments.
“We will enhance our joint work to help prevent further build-耻辫听of听诲别产迟听vulnerabilities, assisting countries to strengthen听诲别产迟听management and transparency and public finances,” Ms. Georgieva and Mr. Banga said, adding that they would also deepen support to creditors and听诲别产迟ors engaged in听诲别产迟听restructurings.
On the听诲颈驳颈迟补濒听transition, the two institutions said they would collaborate to help countries to connect their citizens to online services and reduce barriers to听诲颈驳颈迟补濒听inclusion.
“We will听蝉迟别辫听耻辫听our joint work to help countries increase the effectiveness of revenue collection and expenditure systems and reap the benefits of new听诲颈驳颈迟补濒听technologies while mitigating the risks,” Ms. Georgieva and Mr. Banga said.
That will include improving cross-border payment systems while ensuring that such innovations spur growth, poverty reduction and job creation, they added. – Reuters
