Int’l financial institutions must modernise to meet new global challenges – Ashni Singh

…as Guyana delegation attends global financial summit in Paris

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh made a call for international financial institutions to modernise if they are to meet new global challenges of a financial nature.
The Finance Minister was at the time representing Guyana at a global financial summit in Paris, convened by French President Emmanuel Macron under the banner “Global Summit for a new Global Financial Pact”.
It featured a number of high-profile names, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Brazilian President Lula da Silva, United States (US) Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and President Joe Biden’s Special Envoy and former US Secretary of State, John Kerry.

While he lauded the French President for convening the summit, Dr Singh also made reference to reforms pushed by others including Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley, in emphasising why modernisation is needed.
“President Macron is to be commended for gathering so many leaders in Paris to face up to the long overdue need for major reform in the global financial institutions. Today’s summit is just the start. Most countries present at today’s summit did not exist as independent countries when the IMF, World Bank and other global institutions were founded.”
“Which is why the reforms championed by Prime Minister Mottley and others are so important. The heads of these institutions and their major shareholders all recognised this today – so I hope the coming months will see action to take forward the agreements of the last two days,” Dr Singh said.
The aim of the summit was to advance a reform agenda for the major global financial institutions, including a significant focus on the Bridgetown Agenda championed by Prime Minister Mottley.
At the time, the new President of the World Bank, Ajay Banga and Managing Director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva took part in discussions focused on how these institutions can be reformed to be relevant to the challenges of the 21st century – with a specific focus on supporting debt sustainability, climate finance and the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals in all countries.

Commended
Meanwhile in praising Macron’s work, Dr Singh also commended the work that institutions like the IMF, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and World Bank have done over decades, including what they have done in Guyana itself.
He pointed out that they had supported Guyana when democracy was restored in the early 1990s and the then-Government had to deal with the People’s National Congress’s (PNC) legacy of unsustainable debt and widespread economic mismanagement.
“[Minister Singh] joined other developing country representatives in calling for more nimble responses to small countries who faced crises – such as those of the Caribbean who face economic and environmental shocks on an increasingly frequent basis.”
“The Minister also stressed the need for the institutions to support all countries – large and small – in dealing with the challenges of investing in climate security, energy security and food security, echoing the comments made by President Irfaan Ali at the United Nations General Assembly,” a statement from the Ministry of Finance said.
President Ali has been vocal in calling for a more robust system in tackling climate challenges and access to financing. During a virtual address to the Jamaica Stock Exchange’s 18th regional investment and capital market conference earlier this year, he had said: “Without investment, our Region’s energy and food security plans will flounder… the Region’s financial systems, therefore, must take account of the development plans of the Region and I think the regional financial system also must be able to proactively respond to the needs of the Region, and we cannot do so without combining our efforts,”
“Securities and capital markets need strong regulation and oversight in order to protect investors. Experiences around the world forewarn us that the need for strong regulation, due diligence and oversight of financial institutions is critical.” (G3)