IMF, World Bank Plan ‘Virtual’ Spring Meetings Amid Virus

(Bloomberg) -- The International Monetary Fund and World Bank said they would use a “virtual format” to convene their spring meetings next month, instead of holding the conference in Washington, over concerns about the coronavirus outbreak.

“We remain fully committed to maintaining a productive dialogue with our stakeholders and will leverage our IT-related and virtual connection capabilities to the fullest to hold our essential policy consultations with the membership,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank President David Malpass said in a joint statement Tuesday in Washington.

The meetings, which the organizations traditionally convene at their adjacent headquarters near the White House, draw thousands of delegates, observers and journalists from 189 member countries. This year's spring summit was due to take place April 13-19.

The World Bank has already postponed a gathering on fragility, conflict and violence that had been scheduled for this week in Washington.

The virtual arrangement may add to complications for global policy makers confronting an intensifying crisis that's upending economic activity worldwide. The Federal Reserve on Tuesday announced an emergency interest-rate cut just after Group of Seven finance chiefs said they would “use all appropriate policy tools” to support growth. The OECD now sees global economic growth sinking to levels not seen in over a decade.

While the World Health Organization has yet to declare the outbreak a global pandemic, there have more than 92,000 cases and 3,100 deaths worldwide.

The IMF-World Bank announcement came a day after the organizations jointly pledged to use “available instruments to the fullest extent possible, including emergency financing, policy advice, and technical assistance” to aid member countries as they respond to the virus.

“We have rapid financing facilities that, collectively, can help countries respond to a wide range of needs,” Georgieva and Malpass said in a statement. They said stronger country health surveillance and response systems are “crucial to contain the spread.”

The two organizations said they would continue to share their analysis, such as the fund's World Economic Outlook, and that they aim to serve members while ensuring their safety.

Read more: IMF, World Bank Say Ready to Help Member Countries With Virus

The lenders say the outbreak will weigh on global growth. Georgieva recently told Group of 20 officials that the virus led the fund to trim 0.1 percentage point from its forecast, though it's also looking at more “dire” scenarios. Malpass said Feb. 25 that first-half growth is likely to fall short of the 2.5% pace the lender forecasts for 2020.

--With assistance from Eric Martin.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Kearns in Washington at jkearns3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at slanman@bloomberg.net, Vince Golle, Sarah McGregor