IMF and World Bank delay Morocco annual meetings by one year because of pandemic

The meetings were originally scheduled for October 2021

A woman walks past a promotional poster for the virtual 2020 Annual Meetings outside the International Monetary Fund at their headquarters in Washington, DC on October 13, 2020. AFP 

The World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund have delayed by one year their annual meetings scheduled to take place in Marrakesh in October 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The meetings will now take place in 2022, the organisations said in a statement. The last time the annual meetings were held in Africa was in 1973, in Nairobi, Kenya. The Washington-based organisations host the annual meetings for two consecutive years at their headquarters and hold them every third year in another member country.

The annual meetings, which bring together central bankers, ministers of finance, academics and policy makers were held virtually this April and October because of the pandemic.

The meetings were previously held in Dubai, Istanbul Singapore, Tokyo, Lima and Bali.

Established in 1945, the IMF is an organisation of 190 member countries that helps promote international trade, financial stability and economic growth. The World Bank provides financing and advice to countries to address development challenges.

The IMF and World Bank are providing financial assistance and debt service relief to member countries facing the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The IMF is currently making about $250 billion, a quarter of its $1 trillion lending capacity, available to member countries. The World Bank has pledged to make available $160bn in grants and financial support over a 15-month period to help developing countries respond to the health, social and economic impacts of the pandemic and the economic shutdown in advanced countries.

The coronavirus pandemic has tipped the global economy into its deepest recession since the 1930s. The IMF expects global output to shrink 4.4 per cent this year with only a moderate recovery next year. The Washington-based lender forecasts Mena economies will contract by an average of 5 per cent this year and expand by 3.2 per cent next year.