(Photo: AP)

Washington (People’s Daily) – The IMF and World Bank Group announced on Tuesday that the 2020 IMF-World Bank spring meetings will be held via a virtual format because of the evolving situation of the coronavirus and the human tragedy surrounding it.

The spring meetings were scheduled to be held in early April.

Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and David Malpass, president of the World Bank Group issued the statement saying that 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.”

They said that they are fully committed to maintaining a productive dialogue with stakeholders and will leverage IT-related and virtual connection capabilities to the fullest to hold their 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.”

It’s the first time that the two institutions are implementing virtual plans for the spring and annual meetings. The IMF and World Bank took similar extraordinary steps in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington by postponing and then shifting policy meetings to another location.

It means the delegates will not attend the meetings in person, with the possible exception of a small number of delegates participating in official meetings.

The IMF and World Bank Group will instead conduct their official consultations and related flagship press briefings remotely.