IMF Conference

The IMF, the Ministry of Finance of Colombia and the MNRW-Topical Trust Fund will sponsor a regional conference to discuss in greater depth the experiences and challenges faced by the Andean countries in determining the tax base in extractive industries (EI), highlighting the international tax dimension of the problem.

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will released a new book on the Peruvian economy as the country prepares to host the 2015 IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Lima, the first Meetings in Latin America in almost 50 years. The book entitled "Peru: Staying the Course of Economic Success" will be presented at an event jointly hosted by the IMF, Mr. Alonso Segura, Finance Minister of Peru, and Julio Velarde, President of the Central Bank of Peru, as part of the "Road to Lima" campaign.

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On May 2015, the IMF launched the 2015 Youth Photo Contest, which was organized as part of the "Road to Lima" campaign -- a joint initiative between the IMF and the government of Peru leading up to the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF in Lima. This contest provided a unique opportunity for youth to visually express their views of the economic, social, and cultural challenges that the region faces.

Finalists for the Latin American Youth Photo Competition were announced at the book launch event "Peru: staying the course of economic success." (See press release)

Finalists:

• Eric Ramón Martínez López, Mexico
• Johanna Abril, Colombia
• Fernando Javier Carranza Meneses, Peru
• Juan Pablo Troncos Gálvez, Peru
• Luiza Callado Pinto Neta, Brazil

Full contest details can be found at http://www.imf.org/IMFlatamyouth

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On June 23, the IMF jointly with the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Peru, launched a national essay contest in Peru. More than 360 entries from undergraduate and graduate students, from all disciplines in Peruvian universities, were received for this contest. Candidates structured their essays around one of the following six priority areas for Peru: macroeconomic stability and sustainability, productivity and innovation, education, gender, environment, and infrastructure. Judges from the government of Peru, the IMF, Economic and Social Research Consortium (CIES) selected the finalists based on pertinence of the essay and applicability as well as rigor, structure and coherence.

Finalists:

• Cristian Bancayan Navarro
• Silvia Espinal Meza
• Ana Ximena Retamozo Ponce
• Nuria Rodríguez Córdova
• Enrique Tazza Trujillo
• Mauricio Tong Wong

Full contest details can be found here.

The International Monetary Fund, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank hosted the 2015 High Level Caribbean Forum on September 3-4, 2015 in Frigate Bay, St. Kitts. This forum, the fourth in the series, brought together Caribbean finance ministers and central bank governors, donors, and representatives from international financial institutions to exchange views on solutions to key economic problems facing the region.

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the government of El Salvador hosted the XIII Regional Conference for Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic on July 23-24, 2015 in San Salvador. The focus was on the macroeconomic outlook for the region, including the effect of monetary policy in the United States, as well as policies for inclusive growth, experience with fiscal responsibility frameworks, and the benefits and risks from growing financial integration. The conference brought together central bank governors, finance ministers, and financial sector superintendents of the region, as well as senior officials of the IMF and other multilateral organizations.

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This conference will promote the discussion on financial inclusion, its benefits on economic growth; its achievements and challenges in Latin America; its lessons learned in policy implementation; and the action strategies considered for promoting financial inclusion in Peru.

This conference will bring together domestic and international renowned experts and it is structured as follows:

• The first part will include the analysis of the current situation, the future of financial inclusion in Latin America and its impact on growth and inequality;
• The second one will focus on the design, implementation and evaluation of results of several policies and financial inclusion strategies;
• Finally, Peru's progress, challenges and efforts done will be presented and the main characteristics of Peru´s National Strategy on Financial Inclusion will be discussed.

Attendance to this conference is by invitation only.

Read the program

This one-day conference is part of a series of IMF-related events in Latin America in preparation for the 2015 IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Lima, Peru. It will bring together regional experts, leading academics, senior policymakers, as well as IMF staff to discuss the current difficulties affecting Latin America. IMF First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton will open the event.

The conference is open to the public, but registration is required. To register, go to http://www.cvent.com/d/zrqx9b.

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Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director, gave a speech today at the XVII Annual Inflation Targeting Seminar of the Banco Central do Brasil, Brasilia, titled "Reinforcing Policy Credibility, Reigniting Robust Growth".

Read the speech.

IMF First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton and Colombia Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas will have a debate about the region's future.

Moderator: Joyce Chang, J.P. Morgan
Panelists: David Lipton (First Deputy Managing Director, IMF); Mauricio Cardenas (Finance Minister, Colombia); Jose de Gregorio (IEE); Ilan Goldfajn (Itau Unibanco)

The IMF launched in Santiago, Chile, its Regional Economic Outlook for the Western Hemisphere region.

Western Hemisphere REO Archives

Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, IMF; Jim Kim, President, World Bank Group; Alonso Segura, Finance Minister, Peru; Julio Velarde, Governor of the Central Reserve Bank of Peru

Press briefing by Alejandro Werner, Director, Western Hemisphere Department, on the outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean

The International Monetary Fund in partnership with the Ministry of Finance, Republic of Chile will hold a high-level conference to engage stakeholders on short- and long-term macro-relevant issues facing Latin America and the Caribbean. Top policymakers, civil society representatives, prominent academics, opinion leaders, and financial sector executives, are featured in this exploration of economic challenges and possible solutions in preparation for the IMF's 2015 Annual Meetings in Lima, Peru.

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Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF, engaged with Latin American young entrepreneurs to discuss their aspirations, the challenges they face, as well as the prospects for the region.

Latina America's future is in the hands and talent of its young generation. In Latin America, the potential of youth is phenomenal—young people represent 40 percent of the working age population. But that potential is not being fully realized because of high youth unemployment and unequal access to quality education. In that context, many young people have turned to entrepreneurship as a way to join the economy. Youth in the region is 4.6 times more likely to be involved in nascent/new business than established ones, the highest rate in the world.

The IMF sees young entrepreneurs as an important component of the economy in the region; this discussion aimed to bring the attention of policy makers to this very relevant issue.

Youth from Latin America joined the conversation on December 3 at 5:00pm Lima time via video and social media using #IMFYouth.

The 2014 Youth Dialogue, which has been organized over the past three years as part of the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings, provides a platform for youth to share their views on inclusive growth and entrepreneurship through Education, Innovation and Passion. With traditional channels of job creation not working fast enough to deal with joblessness, innovation in self-employment and private enterprise may be key. While this may require creative thinking by the youth, it will likely are require support from domestic policies that help create a level playing field, improve access to finance, strengthen regulatory reform, and close the gender gap. The dialogue will invite panelists to share their inspiring stories, the challenges, and the solutions.

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The IMF would like to thank all of the students from Latin America and the Caribbean who participated in the “How to Build a Better Future for Latin America” essay contest.

1,100 essays were received from students in 23 countries studying in a variety of academic programs (economics, medicine, biology, law, etc.) at both public and private universities. An evaluation committee has reviewed these essays and selected the group of eight finalists who will be invited to the 2014 Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank in October.

The names of the eight contest finalists are:

• Adriana Rojas Castro, 29 years, Colombian, Universidad de Concepción, Chile
• Daniela Amórtegui Martinez, 19 years, Colombian, Universidad del Rosario, Colombia
• Gonzalo Huertas, 26 years, Argentinean, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Luiz Guilherme de Brito Soares, Brazilian, Universidade Católica de Pernambuco, Brazil
• Mariana Montero Vega, 19 years, Costa Rica, Universidad de Costa Rica
• Mauricio Rada Orellana, 19 years, Peruvian, Universidad del Pacifico, Peru
• Monica Sodré Pires, 29 years, Brazilian, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
• Nabil Lopez Hawa, 24 years, Dominican, Michigan University, USA

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David Lipton, First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF and Nouriel Roubini, Founder and President of Roubini Global Economics will engage with university students and discuss the state of the world economy, global economic trends, and current and future challenges facing the younger generations in the region and around the globe.

The Andean region is endowed with large quantities of mineral and petroleum resources. As these resources continue to be developed, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru face important fiscal and macroeconomic challenges. For example, what kind of fiscal framework should be used in the face of revenue volatility and exhaustibility? How can these revenues best be used to achieve sustainable and equitable growth, while ensuring macroeconomic stability and fiscal sustainability? This roundtable seeks to address these important policy questions and provide an opportunity for high-level government officials from the region, leading experts, and Fund management to share their thoughts and discuss current initiatives.