The Fijian delegation, led by Ariff Ali, Governor, Reserve Bank of Fiji, is attending the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund since 10 October which finished on 16 October in Washington DC,USA.

Discussions at the World Bank and IMF meeting focussed on climate change, COVID-19 recovery path, navigating policies during times of great uncertainties and how to face issues such as war in Ukraine, high inflation, and food shortages which is having a devastating impact on the poor around the world.

Ali also held number of bilateral meetings on the margins of the annual meet.

Ali together with the Fijian delegation met with Her Majesty Queen Máxima who is also attending the meeting on 15 October 2022. Queen Máxima is the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA).

As UNSGSA, Queen Máxima has been striving since 2009 for universal access to financial services, thus enhancing people’s opportunities for economic and social development. She focuses particularly on disadvantaged groups such as women, people with low incomes and SMEs (including farmers). Since 2011 she has been Honorary Patron of the G20’s Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI).

Ali is accompanied by Nemia Dawai and Kamal Gounder from Ministry of Economy and Petaia Tuimanu from Reserve Bank of Fiji.