by Linda Straker
IMF meeting in Washington, DC from 10-16 October 2022
Timothy Antoine, ECCB Governor was a speaker
Antoine and Andrews to discuss Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre
CARTAC became operational in November 2001
Lennox Andrews, the Minister for Economic Development, Planning, Tourism, Creative Economy in the Ministry of Economic Development, Planning, Tourism, ICT, Creative Economy, Agriculture and Lands, Fisheries & Cooperatives, is currently attending the 2022 annual International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting.
Taking place in Washington, DC from 10-16 October 2022, the meeting features seminars, regional briefings, press conferences, and many other events which focus on the global economy, international development, and the world’s financial system.
Minister Andrews was among the participants asking questions during the High-Level Capacity Development Talk on “Building Resilience for today and tomorrow” in which Timothy Antoine, Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) was a speaker. Antoine assured Andrews that they will discuss the importance of the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC).
Andrews’s question centred on the training and building capacity initiatives CARTAC has for the region. CARTAC’s regional office is in Barbados and is one of 10 IMF Regional Technical Assistance Centers (RTACs) located around the world in the Pacific, the Caribbean, in Africa, the Middle East, India and Central America.
These centres were created to help countries strengthen their human and institutional capacity to design and implement sound macroeconomic policies that promote growth and reduce poverty. The Caricom Council of Ministers of Finance and Planning (COFAP) took the decision to establish the CARTAC in September 1999 and it became operational in November 2001.
The Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) bring together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, parliamentarians, private sector executives, representatives from civil society organizations and academics to discuss issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development, and aid effectiveness.
According to the IMF website, the Annual Meetings include meetings of the Development Committee, the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the Group of 10, the Group of 24, and various other constituencies. At the conclusion of their meetings, the Development Committee and the International Monetary and Financial Committee, as well as several other groups, issue communiqués.
“The Annual Meetings will include a plenary session, at which Governors take up matters of business. At the Annual Meetings, the Boards of Governors make decisions on how current international monetary issues should be addressed and approve corresponding resolutions,” according to the website.
Some of the agenda items include a Capacity Development Talk on “Fostering Data Transparency: The IMF Data Standards Initiatives;” a High-Level Capacity Development Talk on “Building Resilience for Today and Tomorrow;” and IMF seminars on “Policies for People: Inclusive Choices Under Tight Budgets”; “Policies for People: Inclusive Choices Under Tight Budgets.”
