• Home
• /
• Global business
• /
• Business

UAE participates in International Monetary and Financial Committee meeting

Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, recently participated in the virtual International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) meeting, which took place alongside the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group.

The meeting deliberated the latest global economic developments and the financial and economic repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic. That, in addition to the challenges related to poverty and high debt risks and other issues related to international economic and development policies.

Al Tayer praised the IMF’s efforts aimed at achieving global economic recovery, as the latest global growth projections revised upwards to six per cent for 2021. This is a strong reflection of the decisive and joint interventions that the Fund’s members have made to sustain economies and mitigate the repercussions of the unprecedented global health crisis.

He noted that the UAE shares the IMF’s concerns over the prospects of imbalanced, K-shaped, recovery, especially for the Mena region. The pandemic’s dis-proportionate economic and social effects, will widen inequality gaps. This requires constituency from all relevant parties to continue to remain vigilant, particularly when balancing medium-term fiscal priorities with inclusive development objectives.

He said: "We welcome the Global Policy Agenda devised by Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, as a comprehensive framework for recovery. The UAE will continue supporting the IMF’s endeavours to mitigate the financial and economic repercussions of the pandemic to achieve global recovery and attain strong, sustainable, balanced and comprehensive economic growth."

Al Tayer noted that the health response remains to be the pressing priority that will continue to enable growth. The production and the fair distribution of the vaccine are equally important to ensure a fast and sustainable recovery. He said that the UAE has recently joined the global efforts to manufacture the Covid-19 vaccine, with a target of producing 200 million doses a year of the Hayat-Vax vaccine.

He also noted that middle-income countries are struggling with the need to continue to fund the health response and to preserve preventive measures. With the lack of concessional financing mechanism, these needs have already started to exhaust fiscal capabilities and expose debt vulnerabilities. To this effect, the Fund should deploy all the tools at its disposal including lending, surveillance, and technical assistance. He also mentioned that the UAE welcomes the reallocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) in this regard.

He said: "Beyond just recovery, we must pursue socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable models of growth as the only path forward in the post COVID-19 era, where the IMF can support by facilitating the exchange of expertise, supporting capacity building, and enabling funding efforts."

Al Tayer added: "As a general principle, we urge the IMF to advance its climate agenda in accordance to the Paris Agreement, which enjoys multilateral consensus, by supporting countries to achieve their Nationally Determined Contributions, while considering their national circumstances and development priorities."

The IMFC meetings are part of the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings, during which advice and reports are provided to the IMF Board of Governors on supervision and management of the international financial and monetary system, including response to current events that may disrupt the system.

- Wam