Finance State Minister Shehan Semasinghe, who is in Morocco to attend the IMF-World Bank 2023 Annual Meetings, has engaged in bilateral talks with senior officials of several global organizations.

In a meeting with Patricia Scotland, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Semasinghe has discussed matters of mutual interest including frameworks for debt management, anti-corruption and government performance management.

He said today’s meeting was ‘very useful’ in understanding how the Commonwealth could further assist Sri Lanka.

The state minister has also had a productive dialogue with Martin Raiser, the World Bank’s Vice President for the South Asia Region. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Semasinghe said the meeting focused on the World Bank-supported reforms carried out by Sri Lanka.

Raiser has expressed the World Bank’s fullest commitment to assisting Sri Lanka. The two sides have also discussed the enhancement of support in modernizing agricultural and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sectors, among other areas of ongoing collaboration.

On Monday (Oct. 09), Semasinghe engaged in a discussion with World Bank’s Executive Director, Parameswaran Iyer about the World Bank-supported programs for Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan side has expressed its gratitude for the support provided by the World Bank to the economic stability and the success of the island’s reform efforts.

Semasinghe also met with the IMD’s Executive Director, K. Subramaniam to discuss the progress of the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Sri Lanka and the current economic conditions including the challenges and opportunities faced by the island’s economy.

The annual meetings of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Word Bank are taking place from October 09-15 in Marrakech, Morocco, where a recent nearby earthquake in September killed more than 2,900 people.

The Boards of Governors of the IMF and World Bank Group (WBG) normally meet once a year to discuss the work of their respective institutions.

The Annual Meetings, which generally take place in September/October, have customarily been held in Washington for two consecutive years and in another member country in the third year.

The Meetings bring together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, private sector executives, civil society, media and academics to discuss issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, global financial stability, poverty eradication, inclusive economic growth and job creation, climate change, and others.

(Meeting with Executive Director of the IMF Mr. K. Subramaniam)

(Meeting with Executive Director of the World Bank Mr. Parameswaran Iyer)

(Meeting with Martin Raiser, World Bank Vice President for South Asia Region)

(Meeting with Patricia Scotland, Secretary General of the Commonwealth Secretariat)