Ken Ofori-Atta concludes tenure as Chair of World Bank’s Development Committee

Ghana’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has successfully completed his two-year tenure as the Chairman of the Development Committee of the World Bank and IMF, after chairing his 4th DC plenary meeting.

Accorind to the Committee a build-back strategy must be prioritsed for the global economy in view of the unprecedented impact brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic has resulted in the largest global economic contraction of the last eight decades. It has also overwhelmed health systems, disrupted productivity, exacerbated job losses, reduced incomes, and threatened global food security particularly for the most vulnerable.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance said plenary considered two main topics: “Leaning Forward to Save Lives, Scale-up Impact, and Get Back on Track: World Bank Group COVID-19 Crisis Response Update” and the “Joint IMF-WBG Staff Note on the Implementation and Extension of the Debt Service Suspension Initiative”.

Opening the plenary, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta noted that “the crisis is threatening to reverse years of development gains and throw hundreds of millions of people back into poverty.”

“In stressing the importance of the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) in giving fiscal space to economies, he stated that “since its endorsement, many of the poorest countries have worked closely with official bilateral creditors. The moratorium has been a critical liquidity intervention to save much needed resources to tackle the crisis bef6re us.”

Ken Ofori-Atta however recommended a 2-year extension and re-examination of the DSSI and added he looked forward to the new framework to lead to the reduction of debts.

Read the full statement below: