Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad attended the Pacific Island High-Level Roundtable, which was led by Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), alongside Bo Li, the Deputy Managing Director overseeing the Asia Pacific region.
During the meeting, Pacific Island Ministers exchanged insights on their reform efforts and financing with the IMF, while addressing significant challenges arising from increasing natural disasters, economic upheavals, and limited access to climate financing.
In his comments, Professor Prasad underscored the IMF’s essential role in promoting enhanced climate financing and pointed out that the financial resources currently available to the Pacific fall short of the region’s substantial needs.
He called for unity to support ongoing negotiations for a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) for climate finance, highlighting the evident infrastructure deficits that many Pacific nations face.
The roundtable brought together Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from a majority of Pacific Island countries, along with IMF executives and senior management.
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