Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh met recently with several key international financial institutions in Washington DC in the United States to discuss ways in which these institutions can better serve the needs of Guyana and its regional neighbours.
Dr Singh returned last week after representing Guyana at the 2013 annual meetings of the Boards of Governors of International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the 2013 Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting, and the fifth Meeting of Finance Ministers of the Americas and the Caribbean, according to a release from his office.
The meeting served as a platform for Minister Singh to draw attention to a number of critical issues that affect Guyana and the region. Among the issues raised were the special circumstances of the small states of the Caribbean and in particular, the peculiar development challenges faced by the region. He called on the international community, especially development partners like the international financial institutions, to take account of these circumstances in devising strategies to support the region in achieving sustainable growth and development.
The minister called for the use of more innovative instruments to be designed and applied in support of the region’s development efforts. During Minister Singh’s visit to the U.S. capital, he met with several other key partners, including Inter-American Development Bank President the Luis Alberto Moreno and other prominent members of the international financial institutions based in that city.
