WASHINGTON, March 3, 2020¡ªMrs. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Mr. David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group, today issued the following statement:
¡°Like everyone else around the world, we have been deeply concerned by the evolving situation of the coronavirus and the human tragedy surrounding it. Given growing health concerns related to the virus, the Management of the IMF and World Bank Group and their Executive Boards have agreed to implement a joint plan to adapt the 2020 IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings to a virtual format. Our goal is to serve our membership effectively while ensuring the health and safety of Spring Meetings participants and staff.¡±
¡°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. We will also continue to share IMF and World Bank analyses. With this adapted format, we are confident that our member countries will be able to effectively engage on pressing global economic issues at these Spring Meetings.¡±
