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5 May 2015
IMF-World Bank spring meetings from the German Finance Ministry’s perspective
On 16-18 April 2015, the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Washington
provided the backdrop for meetings of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors as well as the IMF’s
International Monetary and Financial Committee. Discussions focused on the state of the global economy, assistance for
developing countries and the ongoing reform of the IMF.
Source: World Bank / Lizenz: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Meeting of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors
The global economic situation has improved since the last G 2 0 meeting, with the eurozone making particular progress.
Low oil prices are stimulating growth in many countries. However, risks to the global economy still persist. These risks
stem from geopolitical tensions and high levels of public debt.
The meeting’s participants recognised that many countries need accommodative monetary policies in order to anchor
inflation expectations and support their economies. Nonetheless, the meeting emphasised the dangers of an increased
willingness to take risks and a staggered exit from loose monetary policy in different currency areas.
Furthermore, the G20 highlighted the importance of structural reforms to boost medium and long-term growth potential.
The G20 members reaffirmed their commitment to implementing the agreed national reforms. In Germany’s view, there
is no contradiction between structural reforms and consolidation.
Public investment and improved conditions for private investment are important additional elements for promoting
growth. Country-specific investment strategies are being developed within the G20 as an important component of
existing national growth strategies. Germany has created growth and consolidated its public finances through its
stability-oriented fiscal policies. These policies have provided leeway that will be used for additional investments in the
coming years.
Good progress will be made this year in the area of financial market regulation as well. An important element here is the
finalisation of the agreed common international standard on total loss absorbing capacity (TLAC) for global
systemically important banks. Moreover, work in the area of shadow banking must be continued.
Initiatives in the area of international tax policy are also on the right track. The G20 has reiterated its intention to
complete the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project, which aims to tackle tax avoidance strategies by
multinational companies, by the end of 2015. Member states are also committed to paying sufficient attention to
developing countries’ concerns in this area. Work on implementing the agreed common reporting standard (CRS) for the
automatic exchange of information in tax matters is also progressing well.
Meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC)
In a joint meeting of the G20 and the I M F C, the finance ministers and central bank governors expressed once again
their deep disappointment that the IMF quota and governance reforms, adopted in 2010, are not yet in force. This has
been obstructed by the United States’ failure to ratify the reforms. Because it remains unclear whether and when the U S
will implement the reforms, the members of the IMFC and the G20 called on the IMF to pursue interim solutions that
would make it possible to move towards the goals of the 2010 reforms.
One focus of discussion this year was assistance for developing countries. The IMFC pledged that contributions would
be made within the IMF’s core mandate. The main tasks here include creating a framework for macro-financial stability
and developing financial systems in these countries. Duplicating the services of development banks or other
international institutions focusing on development should be avoided.
Germany’s planned contribution to the newly created Catastrophe Containment and Relief (CCR) Trust, which will
provide assistance to countries affected by natural disasters or epidemics (e.g. Ebola), was expressly welcomed by the
IMF and the members of the IMFC. All member states were called upon to provide additional contributions to the trust.
Next meeting
The next meeting of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors will take place on 4-5 September 2015 in
Ankara, Turkey. The next joint annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank will be held in Lima, Peru on 9-11
October 2015.
More on this topic
2015 Spring Meetings
IMFC Statement by Wolfgang Schäuble (PDF, 214 KB)
Communiqué of the Thirty-First Meeting of the IMFC
G20 Communiqué (PDF, 306 KB)
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