President’s Statement Fiftieth IMFC Meeting

Chairman’s Statement IMFC 50th Meeting – Mr. Mohammed Aljadaan, Minister of Finance of Saudi Arabia

October 25, 2024

In the context of the 50th meeting of the IMFC held in Washington, DC on October 24 and 25, several members of the IMFC discussed the global macroeconomic and financial impact of current wars and conflicts, including in terms of Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Gaza. , Lebanon and elsewhere. IMFC members emphasized that all states must act in a manner consistent with the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter in full. They acknowledged, however, that the IMFC is not a forum for solving geopolitical and security issues that are discussed in other forums.

****

IMFC members agreed on the following text:

Ensuring a soft landing and breaking from the current trajectory of low growth and high debt are policy priorities for the global economy. We welcome the IMF’s efforts to improve its oversight, lending toolkit and capacity building, and to become more representative. Looking ahead, we remain committed to multilateral cooperation to promote global prosperity and address common challenges.

1. The global economy has come close to a soft landing. Economic activity proved resilient, with global growth steady and inflation continuing to moderate. However, this masks important divergences between countries. Uncertainty remains significant and some downside risks have increased. Ongoing wars and conflicts continue to impose a heavy burden on the global economy. Medium-term growth prospects remain weak and global public debt has reached record levels.

2. We will work to continue to ensure a soft landing as we step up our reform efforts to move away from a low-growth trajectory of high debt and address other medium-term challenges. Fiscal policy should move towards consolidation where necessary to ensure debt sustainability and rebuild buffers. Consolidation should be supported by credible medium-term plans and institutional frameworks, while protecting vulnerable people and supporting growth-enhancing public and private investment. Monetary policy must deliver inflation returns sustainably on target, consistent with central bank mandates, remain data-driven and well communicated. Financial sector authorities should continue to closely monitor bank and non-bank risks, including from real estate markets. We will continue to improve financial regulation and supervision, including through the timely completion and implementation of internationally agreed reforms, and harness the benefits of financial and technological innovation while mitigating risks. We will pursue well-calibrated and sequenced growth-enhancing structural reforms to reduce binding constraints on economic activity, increase productivity, increase labor market participation, promote social cohesion and support climate and digital transitions.

3. We remain committed to international cooperation to improve the resilience of the global economy and build prosperity while ensuring the smooth functioning of the international monetary system. We reiterate our commitments on exchange rates, addressing excessive global imbalances and our statement on the rules-based multilateral trading system as made in April 2021, and reaffirm our commitment to avoid protectionist measures.

4. We will continue to support countries as they undertake reforms and address debt vulnerabilities and liquidity challenges. We welcome the progress made in dealing with debt under the G20 Common Framework (CF) and beyond. We remain committed to addressing global debt vulnerabilities in an effective, comprehensive and systematic manner, including by stepping up CF implementation in a predictable, timely, orderly and coordinated manner and enhancing debt transparency. We look forward to further work at the Global Roundtable on Sovereign Debt on ways to address debt vulnerabilities and restructuring challenges. We encourage the IMF and the World Bank to further develop their proposal to support countries with sustainable debt but facing liquidity challenges.

5. We welcome the policy priorities set out in the Director-General’s Global Policy Agenda and welcome the start of Ms. Kristalina Georgieva’s second five-year term as Director-General.

6. We support IMF surveillance focus on country-tailored advice to help members assess risks, strengthen policies and institutional frameworks, and calibrate macro-financial and macro-structural policies to enhance resilience, ensure debt sustainability and foster inclusive and sustainable growth. We look forward to the comprehensive review of oversight, which will set future oversight priorities.

7. We welcome the recent reforms THE credit tool kit. We welcome the completion of the PRGT Facility and Financing Review, which aims to strengthen the IMF’s capacity to support low-income countries in addressing their balance of payments needs, taking into account their vulnerabilities, while restoring the Trust’s self-sustainability. We welcome the review of fees and the surcharge policy, which will mitigate the financial cost of Fund borrowing for borrowing countries, while preserving the intended incentives and safeguarding the Fund’s financial soundness. We welcome enhanced cooperation with the World Bank on climate action and with the World Bank and the World Health Organization on pandemic preparedness, which will further enhance the effectiveness of IMF support through the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST). We look forward to the review of the GRA access limits, the review of program design and conditionality, the review of the short-term liquidity line and the comprehensive review of RST. We continue to invite countries to explore the voluntary channeling of SDRs, including through BMD, where legally possible, while maintaining reserve asset status.

8. We support the IMF’s strengthening efforts capacity development and to ensure adequate funding. We welcome the ongoing work with the World Bank on the Domestic Resource Mobilization Initiative.

9. We reaffirm our commitment to a strong quota-based and adequately resourced IMF at the heart of the global financial safety net. We have obtained or are working to obtain internal approvals for our rate increase agreement pursuant to 16^th General Rate Review (GRQ) by mid-November this year, as well as relevant adjustments under the New Borrowing Arrangements (NAB). As a safeguard to maintain the Fund’s lending capacity in the event of a delay in obtaining timely consent to rate increases, lenders to bilateral loan agreements are working to obtain approvals for transitional arrangements to maintain IMF access to bilateral loans. We recognize the urgency and importance of realigning quotas to better reflect members’ relative positions in the world economy, while protecting the quotas of the poorest members. We welcome the ongoing work of the Executive Committee to develop by June 2025 possible approaches to guide further realignment of quotas, including through a new quota formula, in line with 17^th

10. We welcome the new 25^th chair of the Executive Committee for Sub-Saharan Africa, strengthening the region’s voice and representation. We also welcome Liechtenstein as a new member. We appreciate the staff’s high quality work and dedication to supporting members. We encourage further efforts to improve staff diversity and inclusion. We reiterate our commitment to strengthening gender diversity within the Executive Committee and will continue to work towards the voluntary goals of increasing the number of women in leadership positions on the Board.

11. We reiterate our firm commitment to The fund at 80 years^th anniversary and we look forward to discussing further at our next meeting ways to ensure that the Fund remains well-equipped to meet future challenges, in line with its mandate and in collaboration with partners and other IFIs. We ask our Deputies to prepare for this discussion.

12. Our next meeting is expected to take place in April 2025.