President Bharrat Jagdeo will host a reception this evening at State House for the Heads of State and some 294 delegates and observers attending the Commonwealth Finance Ministers’ Meeting (CFMM) which gets underway today and ends on Wednesday.

Observers are expected from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Commonwealth Partnership for Technical Management. And on the agenda for the three days are discussions on the World Economic Situation; Small States matters; a Review of IMF and World Bank issues; a review of poverty reduction processes in four countries; the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC): Debt Relief and Sustainability – Recent Developments and Issues for Consideration and the technical discussions on Climate Change: The Challenges Facing Finance Ministers. Climate change in relation to civil society (a statement from the Commonwealth Foundation) and a private sector perspective will also be discussed.

Heads of States slated to attend the meeting include Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas, St. Kitts and Nevis, Prime Minister Said Musa, Belize, and Deputy Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley.

Livelihoods

In 2006, the CFMM took place in Sri Lanka 12 to 14 September 2006. The meeting, held at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel in Colombo, brought together ministers and delegates from 53 member countries.

One of the key sessions of the 2006 meeting, which took place just before Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, was on the theme ‘An Agenda for Growth and Livelihoods’.

Ministers explored different ways and means of promoting inclusive growth which generates livelihoods and reduces poverty. To this end, topics discussed were the special problems affecting small states and their need for support; promoting investment in Commonwealth developing countries; Commonwealth development cooperation; and issues that were on the agenda of the IMF and World Bank at last year’s Annual Meeting. They discussed the need to give countries the opportunity to develop their own policies for economic progress rather than having prescriptive solutions imposed upon them.

During the CFMM this year topics expected to feature at the IMF and World Bank meeting in October 20-22 in Washington D.C. are set for discussion. The Boards of Governors of the IMF and World Bank normally meet once a year in the autumn for a two-day plenary session to discuss the work of their respective institutions.

The meeting is preceded by the ministerial-level meetings of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the IMF’s policy-guiding body, and the Development Committee, a joint IMF-WB forum. According to the 2006 Communiqu