Finance Minister partakes in IMFC, Development Committee meetings

ashington: April 14 -- (BNA): The Minister of Finance, Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, attended the meetings of the Development Committee and the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), in Washington DC on the sidelines of the World Bank Group (WBG) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings. In his statement to the Development Committee on behalf of Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Oman, Qatar, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen, the Minister said that while we may feel that the global economy is taking a turn for the better, we need to be mindful of its slow recovery, particularly in advanced economies. This will likely pose numerous challenges to growth in developing countries, especially for smaller and more vulnerable emerging economies. Without solid plans, the WBG can risk not achieving the twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. The Minister argued that in an increasingly interconnected global economy, developing countries need to focus on enhancing their systems to respond to external financial and monetary risks and internal macroeconomic vulnerabilities and ensure prudential management of the financial system. He emphasized the importance of human capital development as a key input to ensuring strong, inclusive, and sustainable growth. With increasing global youth unemployment rates concentrated in developing countries, strong action needs to be taken to ensure that every citizen has an opportunity to participate in the labour market. A unified World Bank Group approach to support the countries’ problems will be vitally essential. However, selectivity and taking into account country specificity, especially through increased engagement on the ground, will play a substantial part in the success of these efforts. In its communiqué, the Development Committee encouraged the WBG and the IMF to work jointly and with all member countries in pursuing sound and responsive economic policies to address underlying macroeconomic vulnerabilities and strengthen prudential management of the financial system. According to the committee, a strong, inclusive and sustainable growth calls for macroeconomic stability, good governance, promoting public investment, improving the enabling environment for private investment, boosting quality investment in resilient infrastructure and improving access to finance. Social inclusion raising skills, productivity, and innovation capabilities are key elements. An open business climate that fosters competition, more inclusive human capital development and well-targeted social protection programmes are good for both growth and shared prosperity. The IMFC communiqué signaled a pick up in advanced economies last year, notably in the United States and the United Kingdom, whereas growth in the euro area as a whole has turned positive but remains fragile. Growth in emerging market economies, said the communiqué, has moderated, but continues to account for the bulk of global growth, and is expected to strengthen gradually. Growth in low-income countries has generally remained resilient. While the balance of risks has improved, downside risks remain to the global outlook, including renewed market volatility, very low inflation in some advanced economies, high levels of public debt, and geopolitical tensions. The IMFC called for addressing unemployment, especially among the youth, by removing structural impediments to inclusive growth. It also urged the IMF to continue to provide analysis and a forum for policy dialogue, concerted action, and cooperation, which will help enhance global growth prospects and reduce policy risks. Courtesy: Finance Ministry. (IY) I.Y