Nigeria’s finance minister co-heads Commonwealth group for global financial reform

Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has been named in the Commonwealth body for global financial reform.

Nigeria’s Ahmed will co-lead the “Finance Ministers Working Group for a Call for Reform of the Global Financial Architecture”.

The decision was taken at the just-concluded Commonwealth Finance Ministers High-Level Meeting in Washington D.C., United States.

The senior officials agreed for India to be the chair of the working group and for Nigeria to be the deputy chair.

They discussed varying issues at a parley held on the margins of the 2023 World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings.

The topics included national fiscal policies, financial sustainability measures, development finance eligibility criteria, and potential reforms required for a more equitable financial architecture.

The ministers said reforms must increase funding and consider fragility when assisting vulnerable countries in achieving sustainable development.

Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland said the world faces interlinked and accelerating economic, security and environmental challenges.

Scotland noted that the problems entwine and amplify existing inequalities, threatening stability, resilience and development prospects.

The Commonwealth wants a financial system that will deliver an architecture that is multi-dimensional and adaptive to emerging and existing problems, she stressed.

“To create meaningful change, the global financial system must take into account the realities of vulnerability when allocating support to developing countries,” Scotland added.