On 24-25 September 2005, the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) were held in Washington.
The International Monetary and Financial Committee of the IMF held its meeting on 24 September 2005 to discuss the global economy and financial markets, IMF’s strategic direction and the key IMF policy issues. Mr. Reinoldijus ?arkinas, Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, participated in the meeting.
The results of the meeting are presented in the communiqué of the International Monetary and Financial Committee of the IMF at
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2005/pr05210.htm
The proposal for the IMF, together with the International Development Association and the African Development Fund, to cancel the debts of heavily indebted poor countries before the end of the year, using its internal resources, was approved. However, it is not enough to cancel debts only; it is necessary to support the efforts of these countries to improve governance and reinforce economic capacity. It is also important to adhere to the principle of uniformity of treatment for all poor countries.
Mr Per-Kristian Foss, Minister of Finance of Norway, made a statement on behalf of Nordic and Baltic countries (Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden). The statement is available at
http://www.imf.org/External/AM/2005/imfc/stmt/eng/nor.pdf
The position of the group of Nordic and Baltic countries on important IMF policy issues is reflected in the second 2005 report of the group “Recent Policy Developments in the International Monetary Fund”, available at