Rome, February 8, 2017 – Today Rome hosted the first meeting of the Italian Constituency’s IMF and World Bank member countries. The meeting took place at Palazzo delle Finanze in the presence of the Minister of the Economy and Finance Pier Carlo Padoan and the Governor of the Bank of Italy Ignazio Visco.
The members of Italy’s Constituency include Albania, Greece, Malta, Portugal, and San Marino, represented at the IMF by the Italian Executive Director Carlo Cottarelli, while the Constituency at the World Bank also includes Timor Leste and is represented by the Italian Executive Director Patrizio Pagano.
In the past, meetings of the Italian Constituency had taken place during IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington. Minister Padoan and Governor Visco invited the ministers and governors of the other member countries of the Constituency to take the opportunity of a dedicated event outside of the agenda of the Washington meetings to reflect on how to contribute to steering the IMF’s initiatives.
The issues on the agenda included economic policies to support growth in the presence of budget constraints, strategies to achieve more equal income distributions, and the identification of effective initiatives to fight poverty.
IMF and World Bank member states are organized into constituencies that represent them in the Board of Governors. These constituencies are based on geographic proximity and shared languages or interests. Each constituency appoints an Executive Director.
Italy leads its Constituency in light of its contribution to the IMF (Italy accounts for over half of the Constituency’s quota). The Constituency is the 8th largest in the IMF in terms of its quota (about € 25 billion).
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