Finance Minister Backes Promotes Solidarity, Cooperation During IMF, World Bank Meetings

Luxembourg's Finance Minister, Yuriko Backes, traveled to Washington D.C. from Wednesday 20 to Saturday 23 April 2022 to participate in the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

In a context strongly marked by the repercussions of the war in Ukraine, this event was a major meeting for coordinating economic and budgetary policies on an international scale.

The Russian aggression against Ukraine, as well as the spectacular rise in inflation have dealt a severe blow to the post-COVID-19 recovery. The resulting uncertainties are impacting household consumption and business investment. Thus, the IMF has significantly revised growth forecasts downwards, including for Luxembourg.

On the sidelines of the plenary meetings, Minister Backes had a working meeting with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and Deputy Managing Director Kenji Okamura. They had an exchange of views on the evolution of the geopolitical situation and its economic implications for Europe and more particularly Luxembourg. In view of the challenges linked not only to the war in Ukraine, but also to climate change, Minister Backes underlined Luxembourg's attachment to multilateralism and international solidarity. In this context, she reaffirmed Luxembourg's commitment to allocate 1% of its GNI to development aid. Finally, Minister Backes and director Georgieva agreed to enhanced collaboration on the themes of climate finance, the regulation of cryptocurrencies, as well as the promotion of women.

Minister Backes also had bilateral meetings with Paul Hilbers, Executive Director of the IMF, Alfred Kammer, Director of the European Department of the IMF, as well as Mr Demircan, Executive Director of the World Bank. They took stock of the work of these institutions in the context of the current crisis, as well as the important role that Luxembourg plays within them.

Minister Backes also took advantage of her trip to Washington for talks with some of her counterparts. She thus met the Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko, to express Luxembourg's solidarity with Ukraine and to discuss the situation on the ground. She also had working meetings with Lawrence Wong, Minister of Finance of Singapore, and Ueli Maurer, Federal Minister of Finance of Switzerland, to take stock of the macroeconomic situation, as well as bilateral relations between our respective countries and cooperation between financial centres.

Minister Backes also participated in a meeting, jointly organised by the COP26 presidency, the coalition of finance ministers for climate action, as well as representatives of the private sector, on the theme of mobilising capital to finance the transition to a net-zero emissions economic system.

Minister Backes commented: "The discussions I had during the Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank only reinforced my conviction that the international community must more than ever show solidarity and strengthen the cooperation within multilateral fora. In addition, the war in Ukraine has highlighted the importance of the subject of energy security, and the need to accelerate the transition to renewable sources. Through its financial centre, Luxembourg can make a tangible contribution to financing these efforts at the global level".