Press Release No. 10/382

Press Release: IMF Advisory Groups Discuss Regional Economic Challenges During 2010 Annual Meetings

October 10, 2010

The Regional Advisory Groups of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today discussed with IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Senior Fund Management global economic developments and the perspectives of the different regions in their joint meeting during the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings.

The groups from Africa, Asia and Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and the Americas, and the Fund's management, also exchanged views about the implications of these developments for the challenges facing their regions and the role of the Fund in helping them meet these challenges. The discussions focused on policies to raise growth and employment, enhance competitiveness, manage capital flows, and strengthen financial institutions and intermediation, and on the need to coordinate such policies.

“We have had a constructive exchange of views with the advisory groups and I welcome very much the frank and open discussion and feedback,” IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said. “These different perspectives from around the world are crucial to help the Fund understand better the economic issues and social concerns of the regions and individual countries. This is what we need to enhance our policy advice and technical assistance and to support the international cooperation that is so crucial at this stage of the recovery. I thank the advisors for sharing their views and observations with each other and with us, and look forward to continuing this useful consultation.”

The groups, who are comprised of prominent experts—acting in their personal capacity—from the private and public sectors, as well as academia and civil society, have an independent, advisory function. This was the groups’ first joint meeting, following individual group meetings over the past year.