Finance Minister; team leave for IMF meetings

Mr Seth Terkper, Minister of Finance, is leading a Government delegation to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank Annual Meetings to be held in Washington, from October 10 to 12..

The delegation is made up of the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, the Chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament, and officials from the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana.

The delegation will also attend the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting which precedes the IMF meetings.

A statement issued by the Public Relations Unit of the Ministry of Finance and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said other meetings they would attend include those with the Vice President of the World Bank and the G24 Ministerial Meetings.

It said aside the obligatory meetings with the IMF and the World Bank, the delegation will hold bilateral discussions with other
partner-countries, financial institutions and private sector investors.

The statement explained that the Board of Governors of the World Bank Group (WBG), and the Boards of Governors of the IMF, normally meet once a year, to discuss the work of their respective institutions.

It said the Annual Meetings, which take place from September to October, have customarily been held in Washington for two consecutive years, and in another member-country in the third year.

The statement said the Annual Meetings take place ahead of the meetings of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the Development Committee, the Group of 24, and other groups of members.

At the conclusion of their meetings, the International Monetary and Financial Committee and the Development Committee, as well as several other groups, issue communiqués.

The Annual Meetings include a day of plenary sessions, during which Governors take up matters of business, and consult with one another, while the Boards of Governors make decisions on how current international monetary issues should be addressed and approve corresponding resolutions.

After the Annual Meetings, the team will be joined by Prof. Kwesi Botchwey, Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission, and other members of the Negotiation team, for the concluding part of the IMF negotiations, the statement concluded.

Credit: GNA