IMF Launches Japan Student Essay Contest

Write 500 words in English by Friday, July 20

Topic is "Youth perspectives on the global economy and the role of the IMF"

Finalists will receive certificates, two winners will take part in Youth Dialogue panel discussion

Two winners of the contest will participate in a "Youth Dialogue" panel discussion with IMF Deputy Managing Director Nemat Shafik and other youth/student representatives from the region during the October 2012 IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Tokyo. The Youth Dialogue will be broadcast by NTV/NHK. The winners will also be able to participate in the 2013 Spring Meetings in Washington DC of the IMF and World Bank.

“Young people have been innocent bystanders in the global financial crisis,” said Shafik, “but the decisions being made today will determine their job prospects, the debts they will have to repay, and the economic environment for much of their adult lives.

“That is why the IMF wants to hear the views of young people on the global economy and how it should evolve to insure they have a brighter future.”

The competition, organized by the IMF and the Japanese Ministry of Finance, along with the Bank of Japan, is open to students who hold Japanese nationality. Essays on the theme “Youth...