BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE ongoing global economic and financial crisis has made this year’s meeting of Commonwealth finance ministers more critical, as it focuses heavily on how each member state can work to ward off adverse effects.
Finance ministers and high-ranking public sector officials from over 50 countries convened on Wednesday (Sep. 30) in Limassol, Cyprus.
The two-day discussion, which ends today (Oct. 2), provided a forum for the nations to come together to affect the global agenda. More importantly, the various country representatives were able to devise responses to the challenges faced by the people of the Commonwealth.
Some of the key Commonwealth approaches discussed in the meeting included a commitment to collective engagement, multilateralism, distinctiveness in pioneering new ideas and partnership.
Representing the Federation at this year’s meeting were Minister of Finance, International Trade, Industry and Commerce Hon. Dr. Timothy Harris and Deputy Financial Secretary Calvin Edwards.
Minister Harris noted that the meeting was timely and allowed much work to be done at the highest level of government.
“This meeting in Cyprus should raise our collective understanding of the impact of the crisis and contribute to the fashioning of the global response in an inclusive manner with actions at the national, regional and international levels,” he said.
While there has been some sign of recovery in some economies, Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma noted that the world is still in deep economic crisis. He added that residual effects will be “all the worse, and all the longer-lasting” for smaller countries, which do not have an economic cushion to mitigate the effects.
Harris reaffirmed the Secretary-General’s position, stressing that every economy has been affected by the crisis and therefore has a role to play in the response.
“We are all in this crisis together. While each country has primary responsibility for its own economic and social development, St. Kitts and Nevis will continue to work in solidarity with other countries in a vigorous, coordinated and comprehensive global response to the crisis in keeping with our resources”, he stated.
Details of the recommendations made during the two-day discussion are expected to be publicized shortly.
