Highlights

Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB)

22/04/2013
Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB)

At the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, held from April 19th to 21st in Washington, , the Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr. Nizar Baraka, in his capacity as Governor of the World Bank Group (WB) for Morocco, called for a strong and sustained growth that benefits to vulnerable populations, especially women.   

Addressing the Development Committee, which is a joint ministerial committee of the WB and the IMF, Mr. Baraka, stated that to extremely eradicate poverty in the world, it will be necessary to ensure strong and sustained growth that benefits to vulnerable populations.

The Committee of development, of which Morocco is a member, in fact, adopted at the end of its meeting in Washington, "the ambitious" goal set by the WB to stop extreme poverty in the world by 2030, believing that there is currently a "unique opportunity" to eradicate this phenomenon within a generation.

Achieving this goal will require a "strong growth in developing countries, which, in addition, will be translated into a reduction of poverty in a scale never reached before in many low-income countries," stressed the 25-members of this Committee which goal is to consider issues related to transfer of financial resources to developing countries.

Mr. Baraka, who was accompanied by a delegation made up of the Governor of Bank Al-Maghreb and officials of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the Ministry of General Affairs and Governance, also took part in meetings headed by the Director General of the IMF, Mrs. Christine Lagarde, and the President of the World Bank, Mr. Jim Yong Kim, respectively, with the ministers of finance, central bank governors and heads of regional financial institutions in the MENA region.

During these meetings, Mr. Baraka noted that the continued existence of an unfavorable international environment will continue to put a heavy strain on the country of the Middle East and North Africa, stressing that to face this situation, Morocco has taken steps within the framework of a new accountability plan including three pillars related to strengthening competitiveness, the restoration of macro-economic stability, and social solidarity.

The Minister of Economy and Finance also participated in the meeting of the African Consultative Group with the General Director of the IMF and the President of the World Bank.

On this occasion, the Minister stressed the role of Africa as a new growth pole and the importance that Morocco grants to regional integration of the continent, as can be seen from the participation of the Kingdom in the West African Development Bank?s capital. Furthermore, Mr. Baraka and the Governor of Bank Al-Maghreb, Mr. Abdellatif Jouahri met with the Director General of the IMF, Mrs. Christine Lagarde, as well as senior officials from the World Bank in charge of the MENA region.

The Minister of Economy and Finance has also represented Morocco at the meeting of finance ministers of the Deauville Partnership as well as at the ministerial dialogue on sustainable development co-chaired by the UN and the World Bank.

In addition to these meetings, Mr. Nizar Baraka held meetings with the President of the African Development Bank, Mr. Ronald Kaberuka, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Mr. SumaChakrabarti, and President of the West African Development Bank, Mr. Christian Adovelande.