Overheard at the Spring Meetings

Meetings brought together over 8,700 participants

High-level panels discussed

economic, social, and political challenges

International cooperation vital in

building global solutions

The meetings brought together a variety of stakeholders and opinions—over

8,700 this year—ranging from finance ministers, central bank governors, to

financial sector participants, parliamentarians, civil society organizations and

journalists, representing the IMF’s 189 member countries.

Leveraging these diverse perspectives, the wide-ranging program of seminars provided an opportunity for opinion

makers to share their views on ways to approach and address these multifaceted challenges.

Below is a glimpse of the rich discussions on some of the key topics of the day.

Conference on economic development in low-income countries #IMFonLICs

Low-income developing countries need to diversify their economies, promote inclusion,

and close infrastructure gaps by tapping both domestic resources and foreign funding

to sustain growth: these are the main lessons drawn from the conference on low-income

countries. Panelists at the three-part session agreed that public infrastructure

investments must continue in these countries for efficient growth and for reaching

longer-term sustainable development goals.

“The prospects of Africa becoming the largest continent in terms of population,

and aspirations of the growing middle class, make us committed to find solutions

to implement much needed infrastructure investment to support growth while maintaining

debt sustainability,” said Alamine Ousmane Mey, Cameroon’s Minister

of Finance.

Read more in the Survey story and watch the webcast.

Panelists discuss the economic and political challenges of hosting refugees (photo:

IMF)

Conflicts and the refugee crisis #IMFonRefugees

“This is not just a humanitarian challenge, it’s a development and economic

challenge. We need longer-term thinking about how to incorporate these refugees

into national development plans, and how to integrate them into the long-term economic

course of the host countries and communities,” said Kyung-wha Kang, a UN Assistant-Secretary

General at this seminar. With proper policies in place, rapid labor market integration

can reduce the short-term fiscal costs associated with absorbing the influx of asylum

seekers. Panelists, including Jordanian Minister of Planning Imad Fakhoury, agreed

that security and hosting refugees is a public good that should be strengthened

through capacity building efforts and inclusive policies.

Watch the discussion and read the Survey story.

Women, work and the global economy #IMFGender

Making the economic case for gender equality as the key to progress was the focus

of this seminar on women’s opportunities in the workplace. The global economy

is still in many ways “rigged against women,” panelists said, citing

access to finance, tax policy, and legal barriers to equality. Berkeley Haas Business

School professor Laura Tyson emphasized that at the current rate of change it would

take 85 years to eliminate the gender gap. “That's progress? I don't think

so. That’s too slow. I am impatient for progress,” said Oxfam’s

Winnie Byanyima. She noted that 75 percent of women in Asia and Africa work in the

informal sector. “We need to recalculate a new measure of economic wellbeing

and progress that counts and values all this labor that is now unpaid and unmeasured.”

“I am delighted that much more attention is being placed on addressing gender

inequality, including at the IMF,” Professor Laura Tyson (photo: IMF)

The goal should be to make the economic case so convincingly that it makes sense

to all involved to take action, widening opportunities to women across the spectrum,

panelists said. “The IMF can't change social...