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Guyana participated in the just concluded “Global Summit for a new Global Financial Pact” which was convened in Paris by French President Emmanuel Macron.
During the two-day session- 22 June and 23 June, the Summit brought together over a hundred global leaders including the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Brazilian President Lula da Silva, US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and President Joe Biden’s Special Envoy and former US Secretary of State, John Kerry.
A Ministry of Finance release 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 of Barbados, Mia Mottley. 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.
Minister Ashni Singh, who represented Guyana, expressed his appreciation for President Macron’s leadership in convening leaders to focus on modernising these institutions. He commended the work that institutions like the IMF, IDB and World Bank had done over decades, pointing out that they had supported Guyana when democracy was restored in the early 1990s and the then-Government had to deal with the PNC’s legacy of unsustainable debt and widespread economic mismanagement.
Reportedly Singh also highlighted the urgent need for the institutions to modernise to deal with the challenges of today, and joined other developing country representatives in calling for more nimble responses to small countries who faced crisis – such as those of the Caribbean who face economic and environmental shocks on an increasingly frequent basis.
The ministry said Singh 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, and commended Macron for gathering so many leaders in Paris to face up to the long overdue need for major reform in the global financial institutions.
