April 8, 2021

I am very grateful to you, Magdalena, for taking on the responsibility of the IMFC chair at this critical time for the membership. You did a fabulous job today by keeping us focused. This stewardship is what we need for the years ahead.

As everyone can see in the communique, we recognize that the global economy is on firmer footing. But we continue to face many challenges—many of which can only be met through stronger international cooperation.

So I am very encouraged by the IMFC’s support for multilateral approaches to strengthen the global economy and for the Fund’s agenda going forward.

This includes our continued crisis response, the forthcoming proposal for a new allocation of Special Drawing Rights, and work on the macro-critical aspects of climate change and digitalization.

Let me add a word on the proposed SDR allocation of$650 billion. In today’s meeting, a number of our members called it historic. Indeed, this is the largest boost to reserves that our membership is giving us a mandate to follow up on.

It will provide a substantial liquidity boost to all our members, especially the most vulnerable. We will step up transparency to ensure good governance for everybody’s benefit. And the innovation we are pursuing is for some of our better-off members to be able to allocate their SDRs for the common purpose of bringing the more vulnerable members to a sounder position. We need a recovery that works for all.

This is a critical step, and I hope we can update you in the next few months on how we are delivering on the mandate we have been given today.

This is a crucial year for IMF member countries—because they face a crucial policy transition: from crisis to recovery, and then to mitigate and heal the economic scars—but also to seize opportunities for structural transformation. We want to make sure that everyone has a fair shot at building a better life.

I am grateful to our Chair for recognizing that, in response to an exceptional shock, the IMF stepped up in an unprecedented way—by providing critical new financing to a record number of countries as well as debt service relief. And as countries move forward, we will ensure that our lending tools and policy advice offer the best possible support to help them navigate this difficult road ahead.

We count on our Chair to steer our work, so that we do bring forward a more prosperous, green, and inclusive opportunity for everyone in the global economy.

Thank you.