Kuwait's finance minister arrives Washington

Kuwait's Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shimali arrived here, late on Thursday, heading an official delegation taking part in the International Monetary Fund (MF) and World Bank annual meetings, due on September 23-25 in Washington D.C., which brings together global policymakers for a series of discussions on the global economy. The Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) Sheikh Salem Abdelaziz Al-Sabah is also in Washington attending and taking part in the discussions of the annual meetings of the World Bank and the IMF. The annual meetings aim to discuss all issues at play and affecting the global economy through close review of the World Economic Outlook (WEO) and the Global Financial Stability (GFSR) reports, drawn by the IMF. The discussions would touch on IMF proposed and initiated adjustments of regulatory and supervisory mechanisms and related issues. The Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF each year bring together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, private sector executives, and academics to discuss issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development, and aid effectiveness. The Board of Governors of the IMF and the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group (Bank) normally meet once a year to discuss the work of their respective institutions. The Annual Meetings, which generally take place in September-October, have customarily been held in Washington for two consecutive years and in another member country in the third year. The Annual Meetings occur ahead of the meetings of the International Monetary and Committee, the Development Committee, the Group of Ten, the Group of Twenty-Four, and various other groups of members. At the conclusion of their meetings, the International Monetary and Financial Committee and the Development Committee, as well as several other groups, issue communiques. The Annual Meetings will include a day of plenary sessions, during which Governors take up matters of business and consult with one another. At the Annual Meetings, the Boards of Governors make decisions on how current international monetary issues should be addressed and approve corresponding resolutions. The Annual Meetings are chaired by a Governor of the Bank and the Fund, with the chairmanship rotating among the membership each year. Every two years it elects Executive Directors. Each year any new members are welcomed into the Bank and Fund. Because the Annual Meetings bring such a large number of member country officials together, they provide opportunities for consultations large and small, formal and informal. Numerous seminars are held in conjunction with the meetings, which are designed to foster creative dialogue among the private sector, government delegates and senior Bank and Fund officials.