A Moroccan delegation led by minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fettah, held several activities in Washington on the occasion of the Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Held on April 20-24, the event included a series of important meetings, including the WBG-IMF Joint Development Committee meeting and the African Consultative Group meetings with WBG President, David Malpass, and IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva.
As chair of the group of countries in the Development Committee, consisting, in addition to Morocco, of Afghanistan, Algeria, Ghana, Iran, Pakistan and Tunisia, Fettah stressed “the importance of using digitization to promote strong and inclusive growth on the one hand, and to implement urgent collective action to address the debt crisis looming in developing countries, on the other hand,” said a statement from the ministry of Economy and Finance.
The minister also chaired the meetings of the African Consultative Group with the IMF Managing Director and the WBG President, held respectively on 21 and 22 April 2022.
During these meetings, Fettah, as chair of the African Caucus for the year 2022, focused on the challenges faced by most of the countries of the African continent including over-indebtedness, food insecurity, fragility and adaptation to climate change, which, according to her, have been accentuated by the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis and its impact on energy and food prices.
In this regard, the minister welcomed the initiatives of the Bretton Woods institutions to help fragile countries with low and intermediate income to cope with these challenges, while calling on these two institutions for a “review of the current global financial architecture to adapt it to the specific needs of development financing of African countries”.
On the sidelines of this event, the Moroccan minister held a meeting with the head of the IMF, with a virtual participation of the Governor of Bank Al-Maghrib (Morocco’s central bank), according to the statement.
During this meeting, Fettah highlighted the willingness of the Moroccan government to continue the momentum of reforms undertaken by the Kingdom, in accordance with the High Orientations of HM King Mohammed VI, mentioning in particular the program of generalization of social protection, the economic recovery plan and the reform of the sector of public institutions and enterprises.
The minister also welcomed the initiatives launched by the IMF, under the leadership of Ms. Georgieva, to better meet the financing needs of developing countries, the statement read.
For his part, the Governor of Morocco’s central bank, who welcomed the efforts of the IMF, recalled the national strategy of financial inclusion as a lever for economic integration targeting particularly women, youth and very small businesses.
For her part, Georgieva congratulated Morocco for the success of the vaccination campaign conducted to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, and welcomed the proactive strategy of the Kingdom to mitigate the effects of the crisis and ensure economic recovery.
In addition, the Minister of Economy and Finance held bilateral meetings with other WBG and IMF officials.
Regarding the meeting with the World Bank’s Managing Director of Operations, Axel Van Trotsenburg, both sides discussed the cooperative relations with the WBG and its role in Morocco’s economic and social dynamics.
The meeting with the Managing Director of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Makhtar Diop, was devoted to the role of private financing in the development strategy of the Kingdom.
In this regard, the minister urged the IFC to strengthen its financial and technical support to accompany the government’s efforts in innovative financing and improving market access conditions.
In addition, the meeting with the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Vera Songwe, focused on the challenges facing African countries in the context of the current crisis.
The meeting with the Vice President and Corporate Secretary of the World Bank Group, Diariétou Gaye, provided the opportunity to discuss the status of preparations for the organization of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF, which will be held in Marrakech in October 2023.
In this regard, Mrs. Fettah reiterated the commitment of the Kingdom to ensure the success of this event.
As host country of the October 2023 edition of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, several key actions have promoted the economic and cultural attractiveness of Morocco within the two institutions, based in Washington, in particular through information stands, musical performances and tastings of the flavors of Moroccan gastronomy.
These promotional actions were attended by participants in these Spring Meetings, who were thus able to discover the many economic and cultural assets of the Kingdom, as a foretaste of next year’s Assemblies.
