BASSETERRE, St Kitts — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in collaboration with the government of St Kitts and Nevis will hold a high-level forum on “Financing Growth” in the Caribbean on September 3-4, 2015 in St Kitts. Complementing the objectives of previous meetings, the event will focus on issues critical for growth and competitiveness: reducing energy costs and financing national energy strategies, and banking sector issues such as including improving access to credit for the productive sector.
The forum – in its fourth edition – will bring together prime ministers, finance ministers, central bank governors, and other high-ranking officials from Caribbean countries, as well as senior officials from the IMF, the Caribbean Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank and donors.
“Building on the main takeaways of last year’s event, the focus of the forum in St Kitts will be on strategies to address the high cost of energy production and distribution, and banking sector issues including the need to provide businesses with appropriate financing opportunities,” said Alejandro Werner, director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department.
“The Forum has been an important platform for collaboration and advancing solutions for Caribbean authorities, the donor community and IFIs and I am looking forward to our discussions on these important topics,” he added.
Dr Timothy Harris, prime minister and minister of finance of St Kitts and Nevis, will open the conference on September 3. The IMF delegation will be headed by Min Zhu, deputy managing director of the Fund, and Alejandro Werner, director of the department overseeing IMF activities in the Caribbean, and in North America and South America.
Zhu will also meet with St Kitts and Nevis government officials, private sector representatives and students in separate events on September 2.