IMF/WB: global outlook is positive
The annual meeting of the World Bank and the IMF concluded in Prague on Wednesday night, a day earlier than planned. What was the outcome of the meeting? And does the Prague session mark the beginning of a new era of openness for the Bretton Woods institutions? Vladimir Tax attended the final press conference on Thursday morning.
The session ended a day earlier than expected but Managing Director of the IMF Hoerst Koehler made it clear that it was not because the delegates were scared of the violent protests. The IMF's and World Bank's ultimate goal is a world free of poverty and development that benefits all people of the world. After the session, the two institutions reiterated their commitment to reform, transparency and openness. Mr. Koehler stressed that the main task was to make globalisation work for all: Ten years after the fall of communism, Prague had proved fully capable of hosting important international forum which decide the future of economic and social development: Both Mr. Koehler and the chairman of the World Bank Group, James Wolfensohn, reiterated their commitment to help the poorest countries. However, they stressed that debt relief was not the ultimate solution:
