Finance Minister leads delegation to IMF, World Bank annual meetings

Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Ryan Straughn, led Barbados’ delegation to the just-concluded International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington, DC from October 14 to 20.

The delegation included the Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados (Alternate Governor of the IMF), Cleviston Haynes; the Director of Finance and Economic Affairs (Alternate Governor of the World Bank), Ian Carrington; and other officials from the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank of Barbados.

While in Washington, the Barbadian delegation attended the Commonwealth Finance Ministers’ Meeting and participated in the Caribbean Caucus Meeting facilitated by the World Bank Managing Director of Operations, Axel van Trotsenburg. The delegation also met with Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF Managing Director, and Tao Zhang the IMF Deputy Managing Director, and participated in the Small States Forum with United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, and World Bank President, David Malpass.

Aside from the obligatory meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, the delegation held bilateral discussions with partner countries, financial institutions and private sector investors.

The Minister also held talks with the external creditor committee to wrap up the debt negotiations that led to the in principle settlement of the external commercial debt restructuring. Minister Straughn thanked the members of the committee for their patience and their continued commitment to Barbados, as the deal allows the Mia Mottley administration to put the country’s public debt on a sustainable trajectory and to restore macroeconomic fundamentals.

The Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group and the IMF bring together Ministers of Finance, central bankers, development partners, parliamentarians, private sector executives, representatives from civil society organizations and academics, to discuss issues of global concern, especially the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development, and aid effectiveness.