World Bank & IMF Spring Meetings

Each Spring, committees of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Board of Governors gather in Washington, DC to review progress of the work of the World Bank and IMF on poverty reduction, economic development, and international finance.  This year, the Spring Meetings will be held from April 25-26. 

The Spring Meetings always draw attention from country governments, civil society, the private sector, and the press, among others.  This year, because of the global financial crisis and the $1.1 trillion in resources for low-income countries promised at the G20 Summit in London, much of which are to be funneled through the World Bank and IMF, the Spring Meetings are even more important to developing countries.  These resources could provide critical relief for African countries hit hard by the collapse of the global economy.  But there is little information that came out of the G20 about how these funds will be provided. 

The details on how these resources will be spent are critically important.  They will decide whether poor countries have the resources to continue development progress during this financial crisis and whether they have to risk a future debt crisis to get access to funds and protect their populations.

The outcome of the Spring Meetings should be to provide low-income countries - particularly those in Africa - with the resources they need to get through this financial crisis without creating a future debt crisis.  To do this, ONE proposes the IMF revalue gold and use the surplus profits to support lending at very low interest rates (almost grants) for African countries.  In addition, ONE proposes that the Spring Meetings continue the discussions about reforming international financial institutions and regulations.