A Moroccan delegation headed by Economy and Finance Minister Nadia Fattah conducted extensive activities in Washington on the occasion of the Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund.
This April 20-24 meeting hosted a series of important meetings, including the World Bank Group-International Monetary Fund Joint Development Committee meeting and the African Consultative Group meetings with World Bank Group President David Malpass and the Managing Director. Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva.
Ms. Fattah, as chair of the group of countries within the Development Committee, made up, in addition to Morocco, of Afghanistan, Algeria, Ghana, Iran, Pakistan and Tunisia, emphasized “the importance of using digitization to promote inclusive growth on the one hand, and implementing urgent collective action to address the looming debt crisis in countries.” Developing, on the other hand, refers to a press release from the Ministry of Economy and Finance received by MAP on Sunday.
The Minister also chaired the meetings of the African Consultative Group with the Director General of the International Monetary Fund and the President of the World Bank Group, which were held respectively on April 21 and 22, 2022.
During these meetings, Ms. Fattah, in her capacity as Chair of the 2022 African Assembly, highlighted the challenges facing most countries on the continent, including over-indebtedness, food insecurity, fragility and adaptation to climate change, which were highlighted. He said, by the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis and its impact on prices for energy and food products.
In this regard, the Minister of Economy and Finance welcomed the initiatives of the Bretton Woods institutions to help fragile low- and middle-income countries to meet these challenges, while calling on these two institutions, in view of their position of reference, to “restore”. Examining the current global financial architecture to adapt it to the specific development financing needs of African countries.
On the sidelines of this event, the Minister of Economy and Finance held a meeting with the Director General of the International Monetary Fund, with the participation, in the virtual situation, of Bank Al-Maghrib Governor Abdellatif Jouahri.
During this meeting, Ms. Fattah highlighted the Moroccan government’s desire to continue the momentum of reforms initiated by the Kingdom, in accordance with the high guidelines of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, in particular the program of generalization of social protection and economic recovery. Planning and reforming the public institutions and establishments sector.
The Minister welcomed the initiatives launched by the International Monetary Fund, led by Ms. Georgieva, to better meet the financing needs of developing countries.
In the same context, the Wali of Bank Al-Maghrib, praising the efforts of the International Monetary Fund, referred to the National Financial Inclusion Strategy “as a tool for economic integration targeting in particular women, youth and very small businesses.
For her part, Mrs. Georgieva congratulated Morocco on the success of the vaccination campaign it implemented to deal with the epidemic, and welcomed the Kingdom’s proactive strategy in mitigating the effects of the crisis and economic recovery.
In addition, the Minister of Economy and Finance held bilateral meetings with other officials of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund.
During the meeting with the Director General of Operations of the World Bank, Axel Van Trotsenburg, discussions focused in particular on the cooperative relations with the World Bank Group and its role in the economic and social dynamics of Morocco.
The meeting with the Director General of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Mokhtar Diop, was devoted to the role of private finance in the Kingdom’s development strategy. In this regard, the Minister called on the International Finance Corporation to enhance its financial and technical support to keep pace with the government’s efforts regarding innovative financing and improving market access conditions.
During the interview with the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Vera Songwe, the discussions mainly focused on the challenges faced by African countries in the context of the current crisis.
The meeting with the Vice President and Secretary General of the World Bank Group, Diarito Gaye, was an opportunity to discuss the state of preparations for the organization of the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to be held in October 2023 in Marrakesh. .
In this regard, Mrs. Fattah renewed the Kingdom’s commitment to the success of this great event.
As host of the October 2023 edition of the annual meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, several major chains have enhanced Morocco’s economic and cultural attractiveness within the two institutions, based in Washington, notably through information platforms, musical performances and tastings of Moroccan flavours.
These promotional activities were well attended by the participants of these Spring Meetings, who were thus able to discover the Kingdom’s many economic and cultural assets, as a precursor to the upcoming year’s assemblies.
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