The International Monetary and Finance Committee (IMFC) of the IMF noted a high level of uncertainty on trade and finance, but praised cooperation among its members on a wide variety of agenda items Friday (April 25) in Washington, DC at the Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank.
“Indeed, the buzzword was uncertainty all over this week. And indeed, it also carries with it market volatility, presenting real risks to the global growth and financial stability. As Kristalina said recently, these trade conflicts have been like a forgetting but boiling on a stove. Now that bot is boiling over. In other words, we should not be surprised that there are trade tensions. And this situation is an opportunity for us all to have a constructive conversations about how we will move forward,” said the Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Aljadaan, in his role of acting chair of the IMFC.
The group was unable to get the consensus needed for a communique, but the Fund’s Managing Director praised the progress that members were able to reach on thorny issues like boosting funding and reducing global debt.
“They recognized that they need to seize the moment to put their own houses in order. And I saw very firm resolve to tackle difficult and, in many cases, delayed reforms at home. Strengthen resilience, to remove impediments to productivity and lift up their medium and long-term growth prospects, and to address underlying domestic imbalances which drive external imbalances. To put it simply, addressing external imbalanced starts at home,” Georgieva told reporters.
She said that the consensus among members was the need to focus on pro-growth reforms, particularly for countries that have needed aid and programs repeatedly.
“We want to see countries acting decisively on reforms so they, you know, you don't borrow your way out of debt, you grow your way out of that. So when countries have that growth potential enhanced, then they can also reduce that vulnerability,” said Georgieva.
A copy of the full Chair statement is available at: https://0-www-imf-org.library.svsu.edu/en/News/Articles/2025/04/25/pr-123-imfc-chairs-statement-fifty-first-meeting-of-the-imfc