Annual Meetings 2004 preview: Strong recovery provides window of opportunity

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Astrengthening world economic recovery and the 60th anniversary of the Bretton Woods institutions will provide the backdrops for the IMF-World Bank Group Annual Meetings in Washington, D.C. on October 2-3. The meetings, which once again have been compressed from the customary four days to two days at the U.S. government's request, will bring together the world's finance ministers and central bank governors.

For Rodrigo de Rato, this will be his first Annual Meetings as IMF Managing Director. In introductory remarks on October 2 to the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC)-the IMF's chief advisory body-he is expected to discuss the current state of the world economy and the risks posed by, among other things, a now more volatile energy market.

The committee's exchange of views on the global economy will also be informed by the latest projections of the IMF's World Economic Outlook (WEO) as well as its special focus on the policy implications of the demographic changes facing the world, notably population aging in the advanced economies. Raghuram Rajan, Economic Counsellor and head of the IMF's Research Department, will also address these topics when he releases the WEO in a press conference on September 29.

Also expected to be on the agenda for the IMFC, chaired by Gordon Brown, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer, are the recommendations of the Executive Board's biennial review of IMF economic oversight and proposals for making surveillance more effective for all countries. The committee is also likely to examine the IMF's role in enhancing international support for low-income countries and to consider progress reports on crisis resolution initiatives, IMF governance...