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Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva participates in the World of Light Chanukah event with World Bank Group President David Malpass and Inter-American Development Bank President Mauricio Claver-Carone at the Inter-American Development Bank.
IMF Photo/Cory Hancock
23 November 2021
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: CH211123042.arw
Troels Oerting Jorgensen, Head of the Centre for Cybersecurity, World Economic Forum, Ali bin Masoud bin Ali Al Sunaidy, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council for Planning and Special Envoy of Oman, Elizabeth de Freitas, Regional Manager Middle East, Darktrace, United Kingdom, Guido Gluschke, Director, Institute for Security and Safety (ISS), Germany and Usama M. Fayyad, Founder and Chairman, Open Insights, USA speaking during the Session "Managing Cyber-Risks" at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre before World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa 2019. Copyright by World Economic Forum / Jakob Polacsek
The US, Nigeria, Norway, World Vision and PATH co-organized a World Health Assembly side event, “Securing the Future: Saving the Lives of Women and Children” on May 22nd. The event focused on increasing access to essential life-saving commodities, the impact of innovation and overcoming barriers to access and financing. The session, moderated by USAID Assistant Administrator Dr. Ariel Pablos-Méndez, focused on the significance of the work of the UN Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children. The World Health Assembly Resolution in support of the Commission’s work was passed during the Assembly the next day. Panelists included Dr. Pate, Minister of State for Health, Nigeria, Dr. Timothy Evans, Director of Health, Nutrition and Population, World Bank, Dr. Mesfin Teklu, Director, Maternal and Child Health, HIV and Infectious Diseases, World Vision International, Dr. Flavia Bustreo, Assistant Director-General for Family and Community Health, WHO and Michael Schreiber, Managing Director, GBC Health. Dr. Tore Godal, Special Advisor to the Norwegian Prime Minister on Global Health and Princess Sarah Zeid, Global Health Ambassador, Jordan, Dr. Carole Presern, Excutive Director, PMNCH and Rachel Wilson, Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy, PATH made official comments.
U.S. Mission Geneva / Eric Bridiers
We managed to get to the Lake District for the Easter weekend. We were open at work on Good Friday so I had to be in at work for a couple of hours and didn’t set off until 9.00am. We had a quick café stop and then jumped on the M62. It took us until 2.00pm to get to Langdale. We crawled up the M61 and M6, reminding me why we used to avoid Bank Holiday traffic. Although staying in Ambleside we drove to Langdale to get a couple of hours walking in. Langdale was packed but we found a place to park at the foot of the pass up to Blea Tarn. We headed up Pike of Blisco – against a steady stream of walkers descending at this time in the afternoon. I didn’t bother taking photos to any great extent, it wasn’t great light, windy and the appalling weekend forecast had depressed me – this was supposed to be the best day and it was nearly over. After a nice settled spell, possibly the first in the north of England this winter (now officially British Summertime) heavy rain and gales were coming our way apparently.
Each morning I studied the maps trying to second guess the light, wind and crowds. On Saturday it was initially dry, much to our surprise, we parked in Coniston and set off up Walna Scar Road. It’s a long steep drag to the top of the pass, the cloud was down and thick, the wind was getting extreme as we got higher – and we didn’t see a soul! We were heading over Brown Pike onto Dow Crag, we weren’t likely to get lost on a ridge. By now it was raining hard and the wind was making staying upright difficult. We slid off the rocky summit of Dow Crag on our backsides, the safest way. We dropped on to Goats Hause, the wind was screaming through and but I guessed there would be some shelter if we headed for the Old Man of Coniston. We met the first person of the day here, arriving at the summit just before him. There was still winter snow on north facing slopes but the wind wasn’t as bad as Dow Crag. It was grim, 30 metre visibility and there was very little point in staying on the tops as originally planned. Jayne was up for heading straight down the tourist track through the quarries. We have only ever ascended it before but we set off down at a trot, passing some fell runners along the way. There was a steady stream of Easter trippers heading up and judging by the questions we were asked on the way down they had little idea of what they were heading in to or how far they were from the summit, and all in appalling conditions. Lower down it was quite calm and many had little idea of the severity of the conditions on the tops. The countryside was rapidly waterlogging again after the belated dry spell.
Sunday brought more very heavy rain and gales on the tops. What looked like snow had accumulated on high ground overnight. It was actually several inches of hail and was horrible underfoot, like small wet marbles but trapping a lot of water on the lower slopes below the freezing line. We parked at Patterdale and walked across slopes that the recent floods had wreaked havoc on, with a lot of remedial work to be done this summer. The plan was to get to Boardale Hause and decide whether to go high – over Place Fell – or head in to Boardale and stay low by doing a circuit of Place Fell. It was raining hard and there was a howling gale but it was behind us, the cloud had lifted a bit so we went high. The summit plateau was a nightmare, covered in slippy, wet, slushy hail with the wind nearly blowing us over. We went north straight over the top and down the other side, the top was in thick cloud but the lower slopes were clear and we legged it off the fell, descending by Scalehow Force waterfall, which was in fine form with the heavy rain. We followed the path above the shores of Ullswater back to Patterdale. Another wet walk.
Monday saw us parked a mile or so south of yesterday’s parking place in Patterdale at Bridgend. With the weather being bad people weren’t out early, even on a bank holiday, so we didn’t have a problem parking. There wasn’t a plan, we were just making it up. Today looked promising, Storm Katie was battering the rest of the country but missed the north for a change. The tops were wintry, again it was hail accumulations not snow, on the high ground it was on very old lying snow and very difficult on steep descents. We decided to take the steady slopes of Hartsop above How to Hart Crag, on to Fairfield and then hopefully over Cofa Pike on to St Sunday Crag, Birks and finally Arnison Crag. This was just less than ten miles and it turned out to be a very tough five hours, exhausting, particularly after the three previous days. A large coastguard helicopter circled us repeatedly and finally landed on the path we were following to Hart Crag, we assumed it was on an exercise. The ground was frozen above 2500 feet and walking was easier as the snow/hail was load bearing and we could yomp on a bit. It was like midwinter with frequent squally whiteouts blasting in. The wind would pick up first lifting the frozen hail in a frozen spindrift that bounced along several feet high blasting our faces, this was followed by, what was more like frozen drizzle than snow, fine, but hard, we could feel it through our clothes it came at us that hard. I decided that we would head straight over Cofa Pike to St Sunday. A mistake with hindsight. The lake of footprints was the first bad sign but we were committed. We lived to tell the tale but Jayne had a bit of a near miss. The crag down to Cofa is steep and it was covered in hail on old snow, the layer of hail was shearing away from the underlying snow and we had to go down on out backsides, keeping a tight grip as we went. At one point Jayne failed to arrest a slide that was above a steep and deep drop. I had hold of her from a position in front of her and to her left and I was fairly well anchored so I felt in control and was sure of the outcome. From her point of view it was frightening and it subdued her for the rest of the walk. She had also ripped the outer lining of her Paramo waterproof trousers as well. Considering that we were going downhill it was hard going, every step a slip or a slide, with the underlying grass saturated and a thin layer of hail it was an unpleasant walk off the fell. At the end of Arnison Crag we took a pathless shortcut – that we swore we would never use again years ago – to save around twenty minutes of walking. This was the only day I had the camera out all day and had to cover it with a dryliner bag whenever a heavy shower came in. I also broke the lens hood. We drove to Keswick for afternoon coffee and toast at Brysons. The new Paramo store across the square was the next stop for new trousers. These Paramos had cost £85 14 years ago and they have just brought a new model out. We had two choices, The old model was reduced to…..£85 – after 14 years we could pay the same price or we could return the old trousers - cleaned – and get a £50 voucher towards the new model, which are £135, or £85 with the voucher. The old ones were ¾ of a mile away in the car – unwashed – so we bought the old model. Needless to say we had a couple of drinks in the Golden Rule in Ambleside every night before our tea.
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde(R) is meeting with Algerian Financial Minister Karim Djoudi(L) , March 12, 2013. (Photo by Larbi Louafi)
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva participates in the G20 family photo at the Fontana di Trevi.
IMF Photo/Giuseppe Nucci
30 October 2021
Rome, Italy
Photo ref: G20 - IMF -30th October - HR-45.jpg
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva transfers between meetings during the 2022 Annual Meetings at the International Monetary Fund.
IMF Photo/Cory Hancock
12 October 2022
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: CH221012085.arw
The Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Philoptochos honored Archon Michael Psaros, Co-Founder
and Co-Managing Partner of KPS Capital Partners at its 64th Annual Chrysanthemum Ball on November
10 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City.
The invocation was delivered by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios assisted by Archdeacon Panteleimon
Papadopoulos. The guests were welcomed by Fr. John Vlahos, Dean of the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the
Holy Trinity, Stella Pantelidis, co-chair of the ball and the Cathedral Philoptochos President Dr. Miranda
Kofinas. This year's honoree Michael Psaros was introduced by Maria Marinakis and Maro Stratakis.
Honored guests included Dr. Konstantinos Koutras, Consul General of Greece to New York, and his wife,
Popita Pavli, Ambassador Maria Theophili, Permanent Representative of Greece to the UN, Ambassador
Vasilios Philippou, Consul General of Cyprus to New York, and his wife Anthea, Jennifer Constantine,
Direct Archdiocesan District Philoptochos President, James Gianakis, Archdiocesan Cathedral Board of
Trustees President and Rev. Robert Stephanopoulos, Dean Emeritus of the Cathedral along with
Presvytera Nikki Stephanopoulos.
The Chrysanthemum Ball is the Holy Trinity Archdiocesan Cathedral Philoptochos’ main annual fundraising
event for its charitable activities.
PHOTO: © GOA/GANP/DIMITRIOS PANAGOS-GANP/ΔΗΜΗΤΡΗΣ ΠΑΝΑΓΟΣ
Effective 15 June 2022, Julián Fernández replaced Keld Mosgaard Christensen as Managing Director of APM Terminals Poti, Georgia and joined APM Terminals’ European Regional Leadership Team.
Julian Fernández - MD of APM Terminals PotiMr. Fernández became a member of APM Terminals Poti team in February 2020 in the role of Chief Financial Officer / Deputy MD and therefore has a detailed understanding of the terminal’s business, client base, and the stakeholder landscape.
“I am confident that the experience gained in my previous role, as a member of the APM Terminals Poti senior management team, will be of enormous benefit in driving further growth for the company,” says Mr. Fernández. “Ensuring the sustainable development of the company, empowering and leading people, engaging with stakeholders, as well as driving new investments and expansion plans in Poti, the region and beyond are high on my agenda,” he adds.
Mr. Fernández joined A.P. Moller - Maersk starting in 2001 as a graduate trainee. He holds an MSc in Economics and an MBA with a focus on Investments Appraisals and Valuation. After having worked in both Maersk and Damco in several countries in Europe and Latin America, in December 2011 he moved to APM Terminals Corporate Development, based in Panama. In this role his primary focus was identifying and securing new port and terminal investments in Latin America. From 2014, he became part of the Latin America regional leadership team heading up the Corporate Development activities throughout that region.
In his statement Igor Van Den Essen, Head of Terminals Europe, expressed his gratitude towards Keld Mosgaard Christensen, highlighting his exceptional leadership when the customer became the number one priority at APM Terminals Poti and this was reflected by the significant increase of the terminals NPS score – a measure of customer satisfaction. In addition, under his leadership, the APM Terminals Poti delivered numerous effective CSR projects, all of which are a testament to the company’s commitment to the communities it operates in.
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva participates in a Presidential Panel at the Three Seas Initiative Summit in Sofia, Bulgaria.
IMF Photo/Hristo Rusev
08 July 2021
Sofia, Bulgaria
Photo ref: HHR03260.jpg
Managed to get down to the Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Surf Ironwoman Series at Newcastle Beach for an hour today.
Shoot with the Canon 7S + 70-200mm f/4 IS + 1.4 extender.
View a slideshow of the entire set here.
Session 5: Managing Capital Flows
This session will focus on the challenges in the region associated with the normalization of U.S. and other advanced economy monetary conditions, including ongoing and possible spillovers to Asia, appropriate policies to be implemented by spillover-receiving countries, and the possible role for international policy coordination in ameliorating the negative impact of volatile capital flows. Key themes to be addressed include: How EM policy makers can prepare for / cope with financial volatility associated with asynchronous AE monetary policy stances. Experience with macroprudential policies and their potential role in managing capital flows. Regional insurance mechanisms, and their role in containing contagion from financial turbulence. Past experience of the IMF in facilitating coordination of macro-financial policies among key economies and possible ways forward.
Moderator:
Maurice Obstfeld, Economic Counsellor and Head of Research Department, IMF
Panelists:
Sukudhew Singh, Deputy Governor, Bank Negara Malaysia
In-chang Song, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Finance and Strategy, Korea
Yiping Huang, Professor, National School of Development, Peking University
Chatib Basri, Former Minister of Finance of Indonesia and Senior Lecturer Department of Economics University of Indonesia
Eswar Prasad, Professor of Economics, Cornell University
Left to Right Governor Martowardojo, Bank of Indonesia, Allen Harai, Chairman AICC, Dr.Basri, Minister of Finance, Indonesia, Deputy Chairman Kurniadi, BKPM, Ian Lifshitz, NA Director of Sustainability, Asia Pulp Paper.
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva leaves the Arsenale to take part in a G20 cultural program and dinner at Teatro La Fenice
IMF Photo/Silvia Longhi
10 July 2021
Venice, Italy
Photo ref: G20_sat10-4618.jpg
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva rehearses her IMFC Plenary speech at the International Monetary Fund.
IMF Photo/Cory Hancock
20 April 2022
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: CH220420118.arw
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde (L) is greeted by Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung (R) of Vietnam at the Ministry’s office March 16, 2016 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Lagarde is on a three day visit to Vietnam. IMF Staff Photo/Stephen Jaffe
Managing to shine on a mighty dreich day, Scotlee Transports F16 - 2013 HIGHLAND COMMERCIAL RUN - DALMORE 4th May
Managed to snap a few images early hours this morning of the comet, with the Canon 60D on my ED80. Not entirely happy but better than cloud which is what we have had! ;)
Photo by John A. Kelley, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service If this photo is used in a publication, on a web site, or as part of any other project, please use the provided photo credit. This photo may not be used to infer or imply USDA-NRCS endorsement of any product, company, or position. Please do not distort or alter the images the photos portray.
International Symposium on Managing Land and Water for Climate-Smart Agriculture held at the Agency headquarters in Vienna, Austria. 25 July 2022
Photo Credit: Dean Calma / IAEA
Kyle on the bow of Pinball tidying things up as we finish up a beautiful day of sailing on Mobile Bay, while my dog Peanut looks on.
Shot by my friend Mairi.
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If you happen to be using Google Chrome as a browser, or are thinking about it, then please drop by and try out my extension, Patr specifically made to make Flickr Funr!
British Award for African Development (BRAAD) Award Nominations Event and Launch of Africa Entrepreneurship Week at the prestigious London Waldorf Hilton Hotel London with Lexy Owusu-Boahene Managing Director LXHR Solutions HR Consultancy Recruitment Accra Ghana
In 1907 the Commercial Managing Director, Mr Claude Johnson (often described as the hyphen in "Rolls-Royce"), ordered a car to be used as a demonstrator by the company. With chassis no. 60551 and registered AX 201, it was the 12th 40/50 hp to be made, and was painted in aluminium paint with silver-plated fittings. The car was named the "Silver Ghost" to emphasise its ghost-like quietness, and a plaque bearing this name adorned the bulkhead. An open-top body by coachbuilder Barker was fitted, and the car readied for the Scottish reliability trials of 1907 and, immediately afterwards, another 15,000-mile (24,000 km) test which included driving between London and Glasgow 27 times.
The aim was to raise public awareness of the new company and to show the reliability and quietness of their new car. This was a risky idea: cars of this time were notoriously unreliable, and roads of the day could be horrendous. Nevertheless, the car set off on trials, and with press aboard, broke record upon record. Even after 7,000 miles (11,000 km), the cost to service the car was a negligible £2 2s 7d (£2.13). The reputation of the 40/50, and Rolls-Royce, was established.
AX201 was sold in 1908 to a private customer who used it for his annual vacation to Italy and recovered by the company in 1948.
In 1906 the London Motor Show saw Charles Stewart Rolls displaying the Silver Ghost. This model was the beginning of a fleet of prestigious cars, including the White Knave and the Silver Rogue, that won many honours and brought status to the British motor industry.
In 1906, Rolls-Royce produced four chassis to be shown at the Olympia car show, two existing models, a four cylinder 20hp and a six cylinder 30hp, and two examples of a new car designated the 40/50 hp. The 40/50 hp was so new that the show cars were not fully finished and examples were not provided to the press for testing until March 1907.
Charles Rolls was born with a fascination for electricity, an insatiable wanderlust that was nurtured by his father and an undying love for speed and transportation – two interests most agreeably combined in the sport of hot air ballooning, to which the great man was devoted. Like all balloonists, after descending from each flight, Rolls faced the challenge of finding a way to transport himself and his balloon home again. His solution was to have his own Roadster fitted to serve as a balloon tender to carry him to and from each chosen launch site.
In 1910 Charles Rolls was killed in a flying accident. Henry Royce nearly died the following year after a breakdown. But he recovered and his engines were utilised in the front lines of the First World War, as well as powering war planes.
The Roadster at first had a new side-valve, six-cylinder, 7036 cc engine (7428 cc from 1910) with the cylinders cast in two units of three cylinders each as opposed to the triple two cylinder units on the earlier six. A three speed transmission was fitted at first with four speed units used from 1913. The seven-bearing crankshaft had full pressure lubrication and the centre main bearing was made specially large to remove vibration, essentially splitting the engine into two three cylinder units. Two spark plugs were fitted to each cylinder with, from 1921, a choice of magneto or coil ignition. The earliest cars had used a trembler coil to produce the spark with a magneto as an optional extra which soon became standard - the instruction was to start the engine on the trembler/battery and then switch to magneto. Continuous development allowed power output to be increased from 48 bhp (36 kW) at 1,250 rpm to 80 bhp (60 kW) at 2,250 rpm. Electric lighting became an option in 1914 and was standardised in 1919.
Managing Director Christine Lagarde (C) visits the Pisac Artisan Market with the Minister of Economy and Finance Alonso Arturo Segura Vasi (R) and the Deputy Minister of Trade and Tourism Maria del Carmen de Reparas (L) October 4, 2015 in Pisac, Peru. Lagarde is in Peru to attend 2015 IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings held in Lima, Peru. IMF Photo/Stephen Jaffe
Managed to get one last shot on a roll of film - you can see the edge :). Seems the last shot to finish a roll somehow becomes unexpected favorites of mine. This was shot with my 1957 Kodak Retina IIIc using Fuji Press 400 film
Sara Pantuliano, Managing Director, Overseas Development Institute, United Kingdom speaking during the Session "Reconnecting Refugees" at the Annual Meeting 2018 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 23, 2018
Copyright by World Economic Forum / Faruk Pinjo
The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, will today begin her three day visit to Rwanda, her first since she came to the helm of the institution in 2011. In an e-mail correspondence with The New Times’ Kenneth Agutamba, Lagarde sheds light on her institution’s current relationship with Rwanda and commends the country’s transformative and inclusive policies that have seen a significant decline in poverty levels.
You come here 20 years after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. In your view, what has been the trigger for Rwanda’s rapid economic renaissance?
My main message to Rwanda is that “Good policies pay off.” Let me set this in a broader context by saying that I am very happy to have the opportunity to visit Rwanda at such a pivotal moment in its history. The horrific events that occurred 20 years ago tore the social and economic fabric of the country, and it is uplifting to see the progress in rebuilding, in peace efforts, and in improving the welfare of all Rwandans.
This truly is an example in terms of social and economic transformation. It proves that effective policies and inclusive growth can be transformational.
The economic performance has been remarkable, with strong annual growth for the past 15 years. This has helped Rwanda make progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The poorest have benefited from a focus on inclusive growth, with the poverty rate falling to 45 per cent of the population in 2011 from 60 per cent in 2000.
Of course, this rate is still high, but it is definite progress and we see the trend continuing. So, while there has not been a magic bullet or a single trigger, a holistic approach, that also included a focus on the agricultural sector, employment, and gender equality, has been instrumental in sharing the fruits of high growth more widely.
What is the status of IMF relations in Rwanda at present?
We have a very close economic policy dialogue and the IMF is currently supporting the government with a Policy Support Instrument (PSI) – designed for low-income countries that have graduated from financial support but still seek to maintain a close policy dialogue.
The PSI signals the strength of a country’s policies to donors, multilateral development banks, and markets. We also provide technical assistance as part of the Fund’s efforts to increase local capacity and know-how. We have an office in Kigali, where a resident representative, currently Mitra Farahbaksh, ensures our presence in the field.
Rwanda’s PSI, which is in its second year, supports Rwanda’s own policy priorities for strong and inclusive growth, with an emphasis on domestic resource mobilization, private sector development, export diversification, regional integration, and financial sector development.
We recently reviewed this programme and welcomed the country’s continued strong performance. We also agreed with the government that more work needs to be done to further reduce Rwanda’s reliance on aid and increase its resilience to external shocks.
What is your economic outlook for the country between now and 2020?
Our outlook for Rwanda is positive. The economy is recovering from a weak performance in agriculture and delays in related project implementation in recent years. Growth rebounded last year and inflation remains well contained. We expect GDP growth rates to rise gradually towards 7-7.5 per cent in the medium term, while inflation remains within the medium-term target of 5 per cent.
I am particularly impressed with the government’s continued commitment to poverty reduction.
As part of my stay here, I will be visiting the Agaseke Handicraft Cooperative and the ICT hub (knowledge Lab) in Kigali to see firsthand how the government has managed to improve the welfare of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups such as women and youth.
As your readers are aware, the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy for 2013–18 focuses on economic transformation, rural development, and youth employment. The strategy is rightly aimed at further reducing poverty.
I think that the continued rollout of planned measures and the successful inclusion of the private sector in leading economic development will help make sizeable inroads in making growth even more inclusive and in reducing inequality.
In a recent advisory by the IMF Board, they encouraged Rwanda to widen its tax base and put emphasis on domestic revenue sourcing. What is your advice on this?
We are devoting a significant portion of our technical assistance to support Rwanda’s efforts to reduce its dependence on foreign aid. The focus is appropriately on widening the tax base – not higher taxes, but all paying a fair share.
The government has already made significant progress in the areas of revenue administration.
The push to increase the number of registered VAT payers through the introduction of electronic billing machines, and the switch in the collection of local taxes and fees from the local governments to the revenue authority, should be useful in bringing more businesses under the tax system.
The introduction of tax regimes for agriculture and mining, and improvements in property taxation, should also help achieve the goal of providing budgetary resources for key expenditures, particularly those aimed at scaling up social spending and infrastructure in a context where donor resources are likely to be limited.
Lately, Rwanda has taken to raising money through bonds, do you think this is viable?
Rwanda’s successful Euro-bond issuance in 2013 demonstrated that market financing can play a complementary role in financing investment plans. Several other African countries have followed suit over the past year.
The key is to ensure that Rwanda’s debt remains sustainable. I welcome the government’s commitment to fully explore concessional financing options and private sector participation before considering the use of non-concessional resources.
At the same time, the government’s decision to begin issuing domestic currency bonds in 2014 was an important step in the process of developing and deepening local capital markets.
www.newtimes.co.rw/section/article/2015-01-26/185319/
Creating jobs remains a high priority for this country, but as you know the private sector is also still young. What should Rwanda do to address these two issues?
On private sector development, Rwanda’s potential depends critically on full implementation of ongoing reforms to attract foreign investment and boost exports. These include reducing the cost of doing business; improving infrastructure; supporting skills development; and tapping into regional markets.
The increased provision of lower-cost electricity and improved transportation should help facilitate diversification and business development.
On creating jobs, the government has identified three key priorities: skills development, the fostering of entrepreneurship for small- and medium-sized enterprises, and supporting household enterprises. We at the Fund share this emphasis on building the capacity of Africa’s greatest resource–its people. Increased investment in infrastructure can help put people to work.
The IMF’s latest Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa projects regional GDP growth to pick up from about 5 per cent in 2013/14 to 5.75 per cent in 2015. That isn’t a big leap, is it? Can you elaborate on this?
Sub-Saharan Africa has made impressive progress over the past two decades, with growth averaging around 5 per cent. We expect that to continue in 2015, despite the impact of lower oil prices on some of Africa’s major oil exporting economies.
So there has been real progress, as growth has allowed for reducing poverty and improving living conditions.
For example, the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day in Africa has fallen significantly since 1990. But extreme poverty remains unacceptably high and not all countries are making progress. Some countries are still facing internal conflict and/or fragility.
Looking ahead, there are a number of longer-term demographic, technological and environmental challenges that need to be addressed in order to realise the ‘big leap’ that you refer to.
For instance, how can we tap into the productive capacity of Africa’s youth? How can Africa take advantage of technological innovation?
And how can we address the implications of climate change? Three broad policy priorities are crucial: building infrastructure, building institutions, and building people. Africa must also strengthen its institutional and governance frameworks to better manage its vast resources.
But the focus must be on people—with programmes aimed at boosting health and education and other essential social services. In fact, Rwanda is one of the countries that are effectively implementing policies in many of these areas.
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has dealt a major blow to several African economies in the region. Can the effects of this blow spread to other parts of the continent?
The Ebola outbreak is a severe human, social and economic crisis that requires a resolute response. And the focus must be on isolating the virus, not the countries.
Strong efforts are underway in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, but it is unlikely to be brought under control before the second half of 2015.
The economic outlook for these countries has already worsened since September, when the IMF disbursed $130 million to the (three) countries to boost their response to the outbreak.
If the outbreak remains limited to the three countries, the economic outlook for the rest of sub-Saharan Africa remains favourable. Some neighbouring countries like The Gambia have seen an impact on tourism.
We are working with the governments of the three affected countries to provide additional interest-free financing of about $160 million, and expect our Board to make a decision in the next few days.
Following the endorsement by the G-20 leaders in Australia, we are also looking at further options to provide additional support to the Ebola-hit countries, including through the provision of donor-supported debt relief.
International oil prices have been tumbling, is this good for Rwanda and the other members of the EAC?
Indeed, oil prices have fallen recently, affecting both oil producers and consumers. Overall, we see the price decline as positive for the global economy. As an oil importer, Rwanda and indeed the East Africa region should benefit given that lower prices will most likely have a positive impact on growth whilst also easing inflation.
Countries can make use of this window of opportunity to reduce universal energy subsidies and use the savings toward more targeted transfers that benefit the poor.
Recently, the East African Community, a regional bloc to which Rwanda subscribes, reached a landmark Economic Partnership agreement (Epa) with Europe. Do you think that these countries need such agreements?
The EPA is designed to enhance commercial and economic relations, supporting a new trading dynamic in the region and deepening cooperation in trade and investment. It can serve as an important instrument of development in many respects.
It can promote sustained growth, increase the productive capacity of EAC economies, foster diversification and competitiveness, and, of course, boost trade, investment and employment. Rwanda is a key member of the EAC that has worked hard to create a conducive and transparent business environment. So it should benefit from this agreement.
Lorna Sabbia, Managing Director, Head of Retirement and Personal Wealth Solutions, Bank of America
Jim Messina, CEO, The Messina Group
Nora Super, Executive Director, Center for the Future of Aging, Milken Institute
Lamell McMorris, Principal and Head of Policy, Regulatory and Government Relations, Edward Jones
Abby Levy, Managing Partner, Primetime Partners
Managed to catch a few shots of this spectacular double rainbow over Kingswood shortly before it faded.
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva meets with President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi the International Monetary Fund.
IMF Photo/Alison Shelley
12 December 2022
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: AS221212025.jpg
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and Magdalena Andersson, Chairman for the International Monetary Fund and Financial Committee, participate in the IMFC Press Conference during the 2021 Spring Meetings at the International Monetary Fund.
IMF Photo/Cory Hancock
8 April 2021
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: CH210408798.arw
We managed to get to the Lake District for the Easter weekend. We were open at work on Good Friday so I had to be in at work for a couple of hours and didn’t set off until 9.00am. We had a quick café stop and then jumped on the M62. It took us until 2.00pm to get to Langdale. We crawled up the M61 and M6, reminding me why we used to avoid Bank Holiday traffic. Although staying in Ambleside we drove to Langdale to get a couple of hours walking in. Langdale was packed but we found a place to park at the foot of the pass up to Blea Tarn. We headed up Pike of Blisco – against a steady stream of walkers descending at this time in the afternoon. I didn’t bother taking photos to any great extent, it wasn’t great light, windy and the appalling weekend forecast had depressed me – this was supposed to be the best day and it was nearly over. After a nice settled spell, possibly the first in the north of England this winter (now officially British Summertime) heavy rain and gales were coming our way apparently.
Each morning I studied the maps trying to second guess the light, wind and crowds. On Saturday it was initially dry, much to our surprise, we parked in Coniston and set off up Walna Scar Road. It’s a long steep drag to the top of the pass, the cloud was down and thick, the wind was getting extreme as we got higher – and we didn’t see a soul! We were heading over Brown Pike onto Dow Crag, we weren’t likely to get lost on a ridge. By now it was raining hard and the wind was making staying upright difficult. We slid off the rocky summit of Dow Crag on our backsides, the safest way. We dropped on to Goats Hause, the wind was screaming through and but I guessed there would be some shelter if we headed for the Old Man of Coniston. We met the first person of the day here, arriving at the summit just before him. There was still winter snow on north facing slopes but the wind wasn’t as bad as Dow Crag. It was grim, 30 metre visibility and there was very little point in staying on the tops as originally planned. Jayne was up for heading straight down the tourist track through the quarries. We have only ever ascended it before but we set off down at a trot, passing some fell runners along the way. There was a steady stream of Easter trippers heading up and judging by the questions we were asked on the way down they had little idea of what they were heading in to or how far they were from the summit, and all in appalling conditions. Lower down it was quite calm and many had little idea of the severity of the conditions on the tops. The countryside was rapidly waterlogging again after the belated dry spell.
Sunday brought more very heavy rain and gales on the tops. What looked like snow had accumulated on high ground overnight. It was actually several inches of hail and was horrible underfoot, like small wet marbles but trapping a lot of water on the lower slopes below the freezing line. We parked at Patterdale and walked across slopes that the recent floods had wreaked havoc on, with a lot of remedial work to be done this summer. The plan was to get to Boardale Hause and decide whether to go high – over Place Fell – or head in to Boardale and stay low by doing a circuit of Place Fell. It was raining hard and there was a howling gale but it was behind us, the cloud had lifted a bit so we went high. The summit plateau was a nightmare, covered in slippy, wet, slushy hail with the wind nearly blowing us over. We went north straight over the top and down the other side, the top was in thick cloud but the lower slopes were clear and we legged it off the fell, descending by Scalehow Force waterfall, which was in fine form with the heavy rain. We followed the path above the shores of Ullswater back to Patterdale. Another wet walk.
Monday saw us parked a mile or so south of yesterday’s parking place in Patterdale at Bridgend. With the weather being bad people weren’t out early, even on a bank holiday, so we didn’t have a problem parking. There wasn’t a plan, we were just making it up. Today looked promising, Storm Katie was battering the rest of the country but missed the north for a change. The tops were wintry, again it was hail accumulations not snow, on the high ground it was on very old lying snow and very difficult on steep descents. We decided to take the steady slopes of Hartsop above How to Hart Crag, on to Fairfield and then hopefully over Cofa Pike on to St Sunday Crag, Birks and finally Arnison Crag. This was just less than ten miles and it turned out to be a very tough five hours, exhausting, particularly after the three previous days. A large coastguard helicopter circled us repeatedly and finally landed on the path we were following to Hart Crag, we assumed it was on an exercise. The ground was frozen above 2500 feet and walking was easier as the snow/hail was load bearing and we could yomp on a bit. It was like midwinter with frequent squally whiteouts blasting in. The wind would pick up first lifting the frozen hail in a frozen spindrift that bounced along several feet high blasting our faces, this was followed by, what was more like frozen drizzle than snow, fine, but hard, we could feel it through our clothes it came at us that hard. I decided that we would head straight over Cofa Pike to St Sunday. A mistake with hindsight. The lake of footprints was the first bad sign but we were committed. We lived to tell the tale but Jayne had a bit of a near miss. The crag down to Cofa is steep and it was covered in hail on old snow, the layer of hail was shearing away from the underlying snow and we had to go down on out backsides, keeping a tight grip as we went. At one point Jayne failed to arrest a slide that was above a steep and deep drop. I had hold of her from a position in front of her and to her left and I was fairly well anchored so I felt in control and was sure of the outcome. From her point of view it was frightening and it subdued her for the rest of the walk. She had also ripped the outer lining of her Paramo waterproof trousers as well. Considering that we were going downhill it was hard going, every step a slip or a slide, with the underlying grass saturated and a thin layer of hail it was an unpleasant walk off the fell. At the end of Arnison Crag we took a pathless shortcut – that we swore we would never use again years ago – to save around twenty minutes of walking. This was the only day I had the camera out all day and had to cover it with a dryliner bag whenever a heavy shower came in. I also broke the lens hood. We drove to Keswick for afternoon coffee and toast at Brysons. The new Paramo store across the square was the next stop for new trousers. These Paramos had cost £85 14 years ago and they have just brought a new model out. We had two choices, The old model was reduced to…..£85 – after 14 years we could pay the same price or we could return the old trousers - cleaned – and get a £50 voucher towards the new model, which are £135, or £85 with the voucher. The old ones were ¾ of a mile away in the car – unwashed – so we bought the old model. Needless to say we had a couple of drinks in the Golden Rule in Ambleside every night before our tea.
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks to the press ahead of a meeting with the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal.
IMF Photo/Kim Haughton
20 September 2022
New York, New York, United States
Photo ref: KH220920008.jpg
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva meets with Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel.
IMF Photo/Lena Mucha
26 August 2021
Berlin, Germany
Photo ref: 20210826-DSC_1989.jpg
Ali bin Masoud bin Ali Al Sunaidy, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council for Planning and Special Envoy of Oman speaking during the Session "Managing Cyber-Risks" at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre before World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa 2019. Copyright by World Economic Forum / Jakob Polacsek
Belle the Wonder Dog has captured the first of sixty fierce dino's roaming the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul
We managed to get to the Lake District for the Easter weekend. We were open at work on Good Friday so I had to be in at work for a couple of hours and didn’t set off until 9.00am. We had a quick café stop and then jumped on the M62. It took us until 2.00pm to get to Langdale. We crawled up the M61 and M6, reminding me why we used to avoid Bank Holiday traffic. Although staying in Ambleside we drove to Langdale to get a couple of hours walking in. Langdale was packed but we found a place to park at the foot of the pass up to Blea Tarn. We headed up Pike of Blisco – against a steady stream of walkers descending at this time in the afternoon. I didn’t bother taking photos to any great extent, it wasn’t great light, windy and the appalling weekend forecast had depressed me – this was supposed to be the best day and it was nearly over. After a nice settled spell, possibly the first in the north of England this winter (now officially British Summertime) heavy rain and gales were coming our way apparently.
Each morning I studied the maps trying to second guess the light, wind and crowds. On Saturday it was initially dry, much to our surprise, we parked in Coniston and set off up Walna Scar Road. It’s a long steep drag to the top of the pass, the cloud was down and thick, the wind was getting extreme as we got higher – and we didn’t see a soul! We were heading over Brown Pike onto Dow Crag, we weren’t likely to get lost on a ridge. By now it was raining hard and the wind was making staying upright difficult. We slid off the rocky summit of Dow Crag on our backsides, the safest way. We dropped on to Goats Hause, the wind was screaming through and but I guessed there would be some shelter if we headed for the Old Man of Coniston. We met the first person of the day here, arriving at the summit just before him. There was still winter snow on north facing slopes but the wind wasn’t as bad as Dow Crag. It was grim, 30 metre visibility and there was very little point in staying on the tops as originally planned. Jayne was up for heading straight down the tourist track through the quarries. We have only ever ascended it before but we set off down at a trot, passing some fell runners along the way. There was a steady stream of Easter trippers heading up and judging by the questions we were asked on the way down they had little idea of what they were heading in to or how far they were from the summit, and all in appalling conditions. Lower down it was quite calm and many had little idea of the severity of the conditions on the tops. The countryside was rapidly waterlogging again after the belated dry spell.
Sunday brought more very heavy rain and gales on the tops. What looked like snow had accumulated on high ground overnight. It was actually several inches of hail and was horrible underfoot, like small wet marbles but trapping a lot of water on the lower slopes below the freezing line. We parked at Patterdale and walked across slopes that the recent floods had wreaked havoc on, with a lot of remedial work to be done this summer. The plan was to get to Boardale Hause and decide whether to go high – over Place Fell – or head in to Boardale and stay low by doing a circuit of Place Fell. It was raining hard and there was a howling gale but it was behind us, the cloud had lifted a bit so we went high. The summit plateau was a nightmare, covered in slippy, wet, slushy hail with the wind nearly blowing us over. We went north straight over the top and down the other side, the top was in thick cloud but the lower slopes were clear and we legged it off the fell, descending by Scalehow Force waterfall, which was in fine form with the heavy rain. We followed the path above the shores of Ullswater back to Patterdale. Another wet walk.
Monday saw us parked a mile or so south of yesterday’s parking place in Patterdale at Bridgend. With the weather being bad people weren’t out early, even on a bank holiday, so we didn’t have a problem parking. There wasn’t a plan, we were just making it up. Today looked promising, Storm Katie was battering the rest of the country but missed the north for a change. The tops were wintry, again it was hail accumulations not snow, on the high ground it was on very old lying snow and very difficult on steep descents. We decided to take the steady slopes of Hartsop above How to Hart Crag, on to Fairfield and then hopefully over Cofa Pike on to St Sunday Crag, Birks and finally Arnison Crag. This was just less than ten miles and it turned out to be a very tough five hours, exhausting, particularly after the three previous days. A large coastguard helicopter circled us repeatedly and finally landed on the path we were following to Hart Crag, we assumed it was on an exercise. The ground was frozen above 2500 feet and walking was easier as the snow/hail was load bearing and we could yomp on a bit. It was like midwinter with frequent squally whiteouts blasting in. The wind would pick up first lifting the frozen hail in a frozen spindrift that bounced along several feet high blasting our faces, this was followed by, what was more like frozen drizzle than snow, fine, but hard, we could feel it through our clothes it came at us that hard. I decided that we would head straight over Cofa Pike to St Sunday. A mistake with hindsight. The lake of footprints was the first bad sign but we were committed. We lived to tell the tale but Jayne had a bit of a near miss. The crag down to Cofa is steep and it was covered in hail on old snow, the layer of hail was shearing away from the underlying snow and we had to go down on out backsides, keeping a tight grip as we went. At one point Jayne failed to arrest a slide that was above a steep and deep drop. I had hold of her from a position in front of her and to her left and I was fairly well anchored so I felt in control and was sure of the outcome. From her point of view it was frightening and it subdued her for the rest of the walk. She had also ripped the outer lining of her Paramo waterproof trousers as well. Considering that we were going downhill it was hard going, every step a slip or a slide, with the underlying grass saturated and a thin layer of hail it was an unpleasant walk off the fell. At the end of Arnison Crag we took a pathless shortcut – that we swore we would never use again years ago – to save around twenty minutes of walking. This was the only day I had the camera out all day and had to cover it with a dryliner bag whenever a heavy shower came in. I also broke the lens hood. We drove to Keswick for afternoon coffee and toast at Brysons. The new Paramo store across the square was the next stop for new trousers. These Paramos had cost £85 14 years ago and they have just brought a new model out. We had two choices, The old model was reduced to…..£85 – after 14 years we could pay the same price or we could return the old trousers - cleaned – and get a £50 voucher towards the new model, which are £135, or £85 with the voucher. The old ones were ¾ of a mile away in the car – unwashed – so we bought the old model. Needless to say we had a couple of drinks in the Golden Rule in Ambleside every night before our tea.
Musée du Transport Urbain Bruxellois (MTUB asbl): this non-profit association has managed the Brussels Transport Museum since 1982. It is located in the Woluwe tram depot, and occupies four of the six warehouses. The other two are still used by around thirty STIB/MIVB trams, which provide service on lines 18, 38 and 44.
The Woluwe depot was inaugurated in 1897, together with the Tervueren Avenue tram line, put into service to meet the needs of the Universal Exhibition of that year. It was expanded between 1907 and 1908, eventually having capacity for 285 trams. In 1976, the first two warehouses of the depot were decommissioned, being progressively enabled to display the heritage vehicles of the Brussels network. This fledgling museum opened to the public for the first time in June 1977. After entrusting the management of the museum to the MTUB in 1982, and after its renovation between 2006 and 2009, today it is a very complete and well-kept exhibition venue, with a large number of vehicles and objects lovingly maintained by MTUB volunteer members.
Inside the tram 10485 of the SNCV / NMVB. Of the unified type "N", this was a unique example, which was built by Cureghem in 1957 specifically for display in the transport pavilion at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. It later served in the Brussels area. In 1976 it was renumbered 9287 and in 1981 it was added to the museum's collection. It was officially decommissioned in May 1990.