News Brief No. 98/47

News Brief: IMF Holds Seminar on Economic Policies in Russia

November 30, 1998

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today hosted a seminar to discuss the policy challenges facing Russia. Stanley Fischer, First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, said the seminar was attended by government officials from member countries, representatives of international financial institutions, and academics and other experts on the economic and political issues facing Russia.

"A frank and extremely wide-ranging discussion took place on the causes of the current crisis, policy options, and the role that the IMF and other international institutions might most usefully play in helping Russia to extricate itself from its current difficulties. Among the issues discussed were the appropriate fiscal and other macroeconomic policies and structural reforms needed to generate growth in Russia, and the political and social aspects of reform. IMF management and staff found this exchange of views extremely useful in its ongoing effort to develop its policy advice to the Russian authorities," Fischer said.