Ravi K to leave for Washington to attend Commonwealth, IMF financial meetings

Minister of Finance Ravi Karunanayake will leave for Washington, DC this week to attend the high-profile financial meetings of the Commonwealth, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

Minister Karunanayake will attend the 2016 Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting (CFMM) on Thursday 6 October, at the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC.

Minister Karunanayake will be accompanied by the Secretary to the Finance Ministry Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga and the Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy.

This year’s CFMM will focus on topical issues arising from the international response to the Panama Papers as well as practical action to enhance Commonwealth access to climate finance and new financial instruments to help countries manage climatic shocks. The Finance Minister of India, Arun Jaitley, will chair the discussions.

Senior officials will meet on 5 October ahead of the ministerial meeting to discuss practical action to advance domestic revenue mobilisation and diaspora finance flows, informed by member states’ experiences.

The meeting of Commonwealth Central Bank Governors will also be held on Wednesday and will focus on the impact of de-risking, the sharing of national and regional policy responses as well as action that should be taken by the international community.

The Minister is also scheduled to meet several parties on the sideline of the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting.

Following the Commonwealth meeting, the Sri Lankan Minister will participate in the 2016 Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) in Washington, DC from 7-9 October 2016.

The annual meetings bring together finance ministers, central bankers, private sector executives and academics to discuss issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development and aid effectiveness.

The Sri Lankan Minister will hold special discussions with a World Bank/IMF team on the financial aid provided to Sri Lanka.