annual meetings

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks to the media during an International Monetary and Financial Committee press briefing on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024.

IMF and World Bank close annual meetings with urgent call for fragile economies

At the plenary session concluding the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s 2024 Annual Meetings in Washington, DC, on Friday, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva made clear there was no time to rest. Although wealthy countries seem likely to achieve the much-vaunted “soft landing” — reducing inflation without a recession — geopolitical, climactic, and fiscal risks are putting great strain on the world’s most vulnerable economies.

Can the IMF change to help more women?

Can the IMF change to help more women?

When a country hits rock bottom financially, the International Monetary Fund is meant to step in with funds to stabilize the economy without damaging its society — or the gender gap. But studies show that these programs often push women out of work at a disproportionate rate to men as the economy contracts. Matthew Kendrick reports from the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings on a push to build more equitable programs.

Sponsored posts

Microsoft and HUMAIN advance AI adoption across the Arabic-speaking world

Microsoft and Saudi Arabia-based HUMAIN announced a long-term strategic collaboration to expand access to Arabic-language AI capabilities. Plans include bringing HUMAIN's ALLAM models to Microsoft Foundry and the Microsoft 365 Copilot ecosystem, while combined engineering teams work directly with organizations to accelerate enterprise AI deployment and adoption. The collaboration aims to strengthen Arabic-language AI innovation, helping organizations build and deploy AI solutions tailored to regional business and productivity needs while expanding access to advanced AI tools across the Middle East and beyond. Read the full announcement here.