G-24 speaks on IMF approval of third chair for Subsaharan Africa in executive board

The G-24 has applauded the approval of a Third chair for Sub-Saharan Africa at the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The group made this known Tuesday in a communique issued at the end of the ministers‘ meetings held at the ongoing IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington.

The communique said the approval would
strengthen the region’s voice, improve its representation, and simultaneously, reduce the workload of the region’s officials.

“Additionally, we recommend further pursuit of governance reforms in MDBs and International Financial Institutions (IFIs), to correct the regional and gender underrepresentation in their top management and senior staff positions.

“We call upon all countries to complete the internal approval procedures for the 16th General Review as soon as
possible. We await the result of the ongoing efforts to develop possible approaches for a new quota formula and we hope that it will serve as a guide for quota realignment that reflects members’ relative economic weight and strengthen the voice of EMDEs under the 17th General Review of Quotas.

“As the review is crucial for the legitimacy of the IMF, we emphasise the importance of adhering to the June 2025 deadline.”

Ongoing refinements to the IMF’s lending toolkit provide another opportunity to address
the challenges confronting members while strengthening IMF’s financial resilience, the group said.

The group also welcomed the refinements to the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST), including adjustments to its design to facilitate early disbursements, eliminate dual-purpose reforms, and ensure programme continuity.

“We look forward to further work to operationalize the RST mandate on
pandemic preparedness. We also call for the comprehensive review planned for 2026 to address the remaining issues, especially with respect to the requirement of an upper credit tranche program and expansion of focus into other medium-term challenges facing EMDEs,” it said.

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“Additionally, we welcome the completion of the review of charges and surcharges that resulted in a reduction of the cost of borrowing from the General Resource Account.

“The approved changes are in the right direction, but we call on the IMF to consider initiating, as soon as possible, further reforms to provide more significant reduction of surcharges, and additional cut in the margin for the rate of charge. Furthermore, we welcome the Poverty Reduction and
Growth Trust (PRGT) reforms, including the increase in resources for concessional financing, and the additional boost to the subsidy resources.”