Fakhoury chairs World Bank, IMF meeting

AMMAN — Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury has chaired a meeting of the World Bank Group  and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at their annual meetings for 2017 in Washington, where he delivered an opening speech at the 71st plenary session of the board of governors as chairperson of the Boards of Governors of the bank and the fund.

Choosing Jordan to chair the Board of Governors is “recognition of Jordan’s pivotal role” under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah to achieve security, peace and stability in the region in addition to the Kingdom’s outstanding response to the refugee issue, a Planning Ministry statement said on Sunday.

Fakhoury noted that the global economy is still recovering as economic growth continues in both developed and developing countries with a balanced mix of fiscal, monetary and structural policies for overall growth and job creation. 

While global development continues, the world faces increasing challenges, natural disasters, man-made disasters, geopolitical tensions, forced displacement, deep political divisions in some countries and the risk of greater global financial hardship.

He stressed that the meeting was a “reminder” that the world cannot meet the enormous needs of large numbers of immigrants and refugees, prepare for the permanent threat of natural disasters and achieve the ambitious goals of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda unless it works collaboratively hard together.

Regarding challenges facing the region, he said that these cannot be addressed without effective intervention by multilateral organisations such as the WB and the IMF in partnership with the UN.

Fakhoury added that Jordan is a “model for the world” when faced with several external shocks, including one of the largest exodus of refugees and humanitarian crises of modern history. 

Jordan currently hosts 2.9 million refugees registered with the UN, representing 13 per cent of the world’s refugees, which makes the Kingdom the largest host country for registered refugees globally, the statement said.

“We have redefined the moral challenge of hosting refugees with the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund and the multilateral cooperation of the international community,” said the minister.

The minister emphasised the importance of linking the volume of aid to the sustainability and capability of the host country.

Fakhoury concluded by addressing the bank’s governors, saying that recent global economic developments have shown that conditions are evolving rapidly with new risks emerging, stressing his confidence in Director General of the IMF Christine Lagarde and WB President Jim Yong Kim and urging the two institutions to meet and adapt together to support member states. 

On the sidelines of the meetings, the minister met separately with Lagarde and Kim in the presence of Finance Minister Omar Malhas.

Fakhoury also met with Hafez Ghanem, World Bank vice president for the Middle East and North Africa. 

The minister also met with Soma Chakrabarty, president of the in European Bank for Reconstructionand Development, and Bertie Patil, the British minister of international development.

The indicative value of the allocations of Jordan in the country partnership programme with the World Bank for the years 2017-2022 is $1.4 billion, of which about $60 million have been committed to support the budget, municipal services, the health sector, economic opportunities, small and medium enterprises, and technical support provided by the bank in a number of areas, according to the statement.