The Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group (WBG) & International Monetary Fund (IMF) 2019 was held in Washington, DC, United States (US) from October 14- 20, 2019. It included the meetings of the Development Committee, the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the Group of Twenty (G20), the Group of Twenty-Four (G24), and various other constituencies.
Key Points:
- Indian delegation: It was led by the union finance minister Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman. She was accompanied by Mr. Shaktikanta Das, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI); Secretary Economic Affairs, Mr Atanu Chakraborty; and other officials.
- The minister participated in the 40th Edition of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) Plenary Session, IMFC Restricted Breakfast and 100th Meeting of the Development Committee Plenary.
- On the 15th Round of the IMF’s General Review of Quotas (15th GRQ) which was likely to conclude without a quota increase, the Finance Minister stated that work on the 16th Round should begin early.
100th Development Committee Plenary agenda: It included the World Development Report (WDR) 2020: Trading for Development in Age of Global Value Chains (GVC); Jobs and Economic Transformation (JET): Drivers, Policy Implications and WBG Support theme for International Development Association (IDA); Human Capital Project: An update; and IDA Voting Rights Review: Report to Governors.
India to spend $1.4 trillion on infrastructure in the next 5 years
In the meeting, Finance Minister notified that India plans to spend $1.4 trillion on its infrastructure in the next 5 years to achieve the goal of $5 trillion economy by 2024. In the last 10 years (2008-17), $1.1 trillion was spent on infrastructure.
- The different initiatives taken to improve infrastructure investment are the launch of innovative financial vehicles such as Infrastructure Debt Funds (IDFs), Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) and laying down a framework for municipal bonds, applicability of Public Private Partnership (PPP) models, Asset recycling models and National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) aimed at channeling investments from both domestic and international sources into infrastructure.
- Zero Budget Natural Farming model is adopted to promote the use of organic seeds and natural fertilizers by farmers.
About the annual meetings:
i. The Annual Meetings are usually held for two consecutive years at the WBG and IMF headquarters in Washington, D.C. and every third year in another member country. The plenary session of the World Bank Group Boards and the IMF of Governors is scheduled only during the Annual Meetings in the autumn.
ii. The Inaugural Meeting of the Boards of Governors was held in Savannah, Georgia, US in March 1946. The first Annual Meetings were held in Washington in 1946.
iii. The 2021 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will take place in Marrakech, Morocco, in October 2021.
iv. The next meeting of the Development Committee and the IMFC is scheduled to be held on April 18, 2020, in Washington, DC, United States.
About WBG:
♦ Formed: 4 July 1944
♦ Headquarters: Washington DC, US
♦ President: David Malpass
♦ MD & CFO: Anshula Kant
About IMF:
♦ Formed: 27 December 1945
♦ Headquarters: Washington DC, US
♦ Membership: 189 countries
♦ MD: Kristalina Georgieva
♦ Chief Economist: Gita Gopinath