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Strengthening Economies, Fostering Resilience, and Collaborating for a Sustainable Future
The Commonwealth Finance Ministers convened today in Marrakesh, Morocco, to discuss essential reforms to the global financial architecture, focusing on two key areas: the amplification of development finance and the mitigation of debt vulnerabilities.
Taking place on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), this pivotal session was chaired by the Hon. Prof. Biman Chand Prasad, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Strategic Planning, National Development, and Statistics of Fiji.
The Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting (CFMM) serves as a crucial platform for candid and open dialogue between Commonwealth member nations regarding global and domestic economic issues. During the meeting, ministers seized the opportunity to share best-practice strategies for ensuring debt sustainability. It also provided a forum for Commonwealth developing countries to engage with G7 and G20 members, facilitating collaboration and the development of shared positions on pressing global economic challenges.
In her opening remarks, Commonwealth Secretary-General Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC underscored the significance of the discussions, stating, “The storms we face are real and serious. To achieve greater sustainability and greater resilience for Commonwealth economies, we need to summon all our unity and all our strength to push for global reform. We need to enhance access to finance while increasing our ability to make every penny count. We meet at a critical time, and the case for reform of the global financial architecture is clear and urgent.”
Hon. Prof. Biman Chand Prasad, in his opening remarks, emphasized the necessity of global financial reform. He commended the Bridgetown Initiative, developed by Commonwealth member Barbados, which calls for immediate and decisive action to address overlapping crises and reform international financial institutions. He stressed the importance of collective efforts in tackling global challenges and reaffirmed Fiji’s commitment to multilateralism and addressing climate change.
#Commonwealth Finance Ministers met today at #CFMM in Marrakesh, Morocco to discuss the reform of the global financial architecture, with a particular focus on scaling up development finance and addressing debt vulnerabilities.
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— The Commonwealth (@commonwealthsec) October 11, 2023
Ministers were presented with key insights from the Commonwealth Secretariat, highlighting strategies for enhancing economic resilience, including:
- The role of blended finance in mobilizing private investment and addressing market failures to support climate action.
- Debt-for-nature swaps as financial instruments to provide fiscal space and promote climate-resilient projects.
- The introduction of new climate-related levies to mobilize domestic revenue for financing development needs.
- Blue and green bonds and domestic revenue mobilization, with an emphasis on blue finance to address climate change and biodiversity loss.
- International initiatives, such as increasing liquidity through Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and implementing the G20 Sustainable Finance Roadmap.
- The need to review Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) frameworks and the inclusion of climate vulnerability in DSA frameworks to reflect the impact of climate-related investments on debt sustainability.
Ministers engaged deeply in these critical topics and concluded the meeting by emphasizing the urgency of taking actions to reform the global financial system, bolster development finance, and integrate considerations of climate vulnerability into financial analysis.
The CFMM demonstrated the Commonwealth’s commitment to addressing global financial challenges and the shared determination of member states to foster sustainable development and resilience.
