2011 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank

As a base scenario, the IMF continues to expect the world economy to recover moderately, with growth of 4%. The emerging and developing countries will contribute to this with GDP growth of approximately 6.5%, and the industrialised countries with growth of approximately 1.7%. However, the negative risks have increased significantly in recent weeks. Due to the further exacerbation of the debt crisis, particularly the capital base of some European banks has deteriorated to such an extent that the IMF believes a recapitalisation is urgently needed - if possible via private investors, otherwise using state funds. The high debt level and gloomy economic climate in the United States and the euro area visibly have negative implications also for the emerging economies. In these countries too, the situation concerning public finances, which were previously bolstered by large capital inflows and high commodity prices, is deteriorating - albeit with considerable differences. Some budget deficits are to be expected for 2012.

In addition to the main topic of the debt crisis, there is also the question of what role the IMF sees for itself in tackling the crisis and in preventing future crises. Here the focus of the discussion will be on the availability of finances and IMF instruments.

The Development Committee will discuss the importance of the labour market in promoting growth. This against the backdrop of the global financial and economic crisis, which has shown that economic growth on its own is not enough to reduce poverty and to increase social welfare in the population at large. The Development Committee will also discuss the 2012 World Development Report and its extensive recommendations on promoting gender equality in the economy and society. The report demonstrates that gender equality contributes to development outcomes and economic growth, and should be recognized as a development goal in its own right.

Finally, the new system to measure the effectiveness of the World Bank's commitment to development will be assessed by the Development Committee.

Address for enquiries:

Mario Tuor, Head of Communications, State Secretariat for International Financial Matters, tel. +41 31 322 46 16

Raymund Furrer, Head of the Division for Multilateral Cooperation, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, tel. 41 31 324 08 19

Olivier Chave, Head of the Global Institutions Division, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, tel. 41 31 322 86 09.

Publisher:

The Federal Council
Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
Federal Department of Finance