Virtual Meetings of the Bureau of the IMF/WB Africa Group II Board of Governors and the IMFC Plenary in Washington, D.C.

Régis Olivier N'Sondé appointed 2nd Alternate Executive Director of the IMF Executive Director for Congo within Africa Group II
15 Oct, 2020

On Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 October 2020 in Washington (USA), the virtual meeting of the Bureau of the Africa Group II of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), as well as the Plenary of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), were held by videoconference. The Republic of Congo participated through the Minister of Finance and Budget, Calixte Nganongo, Governor of the IMF for his country, represented by his colleague in charge of the Budget, Ludovic Ngatsé.

 

During the virtual meeting of the Africa II Group of IMF and WB Governors on 14 October (which includes 23 countries, including Congo), the Minister Delegate in charge of the Budget introduced to participants the second new Alternate Executive Director of the said Group, appointed by his country: the Congolese Régis Olivier N'Sondé. This appointment follows the logic of the rotation mechanism instituted since 2012, which provides for the Republic of Niger and Congo to appoint the incoming Alternate Directors during the year 2020 to work with the incoming Director.

"Régis Olivier N'Sondé is currently Senior Advisor to the Executive Director at the IMF. In this capacity, he assists the Executive Director on day-to-day issues, as well as preparation and deliberations at the Executive Board, including on economic policy issues, IMF policies and country issues. He has had to replace the Executive Director in the IMFC Deputies Group," explained the Minister Delegate. He added that the second new Alternate Executive Director will take office on 1 November 2020 for a period of two years before moving to the status of Executive Director.

 

During the virtual meeting of the IMFC Plenary on October 15, Ludovic Ngatsé issued a statement congratulating the International Monetary Fund, saying: "We commend the IMF for its rapid response on several fronts: sound policy advice, loans, debt relief and capacity building assistance. We also commend the Managing Director for emphasizing the importance of a multilateral approach to address the crisis.”

"This agenda, he continued, which calls for maintaining supportive fiscal and monetary policies and achieving structural transformation, requires significant resources. At a time when policy space is limited, particularly in low-income countries, prioritisation, improved governance and debt management capacity building are essential.

Congo has made several suggestions to the IMF, including: "Increasing domestic revenue mobilisation in the current environment is a real challenge. Therefore, the country supports increasing budget revenues through progressive taxation and the fight against illicit financial flows; continuing to provide emergency financial assistance to member countries in need; and responding, as quickly as possible, to the needs of those members that have requested early financial support to alleviate the impact of the crisis. As with access limits, be flexible in conditionality related to debt vulnerabilities to allow temporary access by all members in need to emergency resources; and give room for enhanced creditor participation in debt restructuring under the G-20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative. It is important that private creditors effectively join the initiative so as not to damage debtor countries' access to finance or their credit rating assessments".

 

 

The Press Office of the Ministry of Finance

Category:NEWS
Sub Category:COOPERATION