Weak Global Economy Tops Agenda for Policymakers

IMF-World Bank Meetings to focus on ways to reboot economy, counter risks

IMF economic surveillance, lending, governance all up for discussion

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Finance ministers and central bank governors will come together to assess the state of the world economy and discuss the policy actions needed to deal with today’s global economic challenges. The IMF’s updated forecast for the world economy will be published September 20.

About 10,000 policymakers, private sector and civil society representatives, journalists, and academics are expected to attend the Annual Meetings, which are set to take place on September 23–24.

In an interview, Reza Moghadam, Director of the IMF’s Strategy, Policy, and Review Department, discusses the issues that are likely to receive most attention at the meetings.

IMF Survey online: How will recent global economic and financial developments influence the meetings?

Moghadam: The Annual Meetings are taking place at a critical time in the global economy. There is widespread concern that the global economic recovery is losing momentum. I am certain that ministers and central bank governors will come to these meetings with that concern uppermost in their minds. The key for the Fund is to facilitate discussion of these issues, both in terms of the causes of the problems and the solutions.

We have two innovative products that the Managing Director will submit to the ministers and governors to discuss. The first one is a Consolidated Multilateral Surveillance Report. It brings all the themes of all our multilateral and bilateral surveillance together to assess the state of the global economy and put forward policy options on how member countries can deal with not only the problems they face, but also those faced by the global economy.

Second is an action plan by the Managing Director, which puts forward ideas on how the Fund can help its membership to respond to the challenges they face right now.

IMF Survey online: What guidance do you expect on how the IMF’s policy advice could be more effective?

Moghadam: I see discussions in three areas. First, surveillance. We have just undertaken a major review of Fund surveillance and we will be putting on the table ideas on how to improve our surveillance further, how to make it more relevant, how to make it as interconnected as the world economy. I expect that ministers and governors...