FINANCE Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno will be appointed the next chairman of the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four (G24), with his term to start in October.
During the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), Mr. Diokno told BusinessWorld that he will chair the governing body of the G24 for 12 months.
Mr. Diokno is currently the first vice-chair of the G24 Bureau, the executive arm of the G24. It consists of the chair, the first and second vice-chair, and two previous chairs.
The Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four on International Monetary Affairs and Development, or G24, was established in 1971 to help coordinate the positions of developing countries on international monetary and development.
The governing body of the G24 meets twice a year to discuss key global issues, preceding the Spring and Fall meetings of the IMF-WB. The communique emerging from the meetings reflects the consensus views of member countries.
“The Minister of the Chair-country serves for a term of one year, extending from the conclusion of the Annual Meeting of Ministers to the subsequent year’s Annual Meeting,” according to the G24 website.
“The Chair country takes responsibility for preparing for meetings and running the press conference, together with the two Vice-Chairs. National officials from the office-bearer countries are assisted in this task by staff from the G24 Secretariat and the offices of their Executive Directors in the IMF/World Bank,” it said.
Mr. Diokno represented the Philippines at the G24 meeting this month in Washington DC. Member countries discussed how multilateral institutions such as the IMF and the WB can effectively support the policy efforts of emerging markets and developing economies.
The Philippines expects to obtain around $19.1 billion worth of official development assistance this year. Around $9.2 billion worth of loans will come from multilateral development partners and $9.8 billion in loans from bilateral lenders. — Keisha B. Ta-asan