Cyprus to host Commonwealth Finance Ministers meeting

Finance Ministers from Commonwealth countries will meet in the southern coastal town of Limassol, between 30 September to 2 October 2009 to share and learn from their experiences in responding to the global economic crisis.

According to a press release issued by the Commonwealth Secretariat, at the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting (CFMM), Ministers will review country experiences, seek to distil good practices, explore mutual support, and identify how the Commonwealth Secretariat can best assist.

The opening ceremony will be held on the evening of 30 September in Limassol.

This will be preceded earlier in the day on 30 September 2009 by separate meetings of Commonwealth Central Bank Governors, members of the Commonwealth Ministerial Debt Sustainability Forum, and Commonwealth senior finance officials, the press release adds.

It notes that the CFMM will take place immediately prior to the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund being held this year in Istanbul, Turkey.

“The economic crisis is contributing to the shaping of the work of the Commonwealth Secretariat and this meeting will be critical in identifying further areas of technical assistance and advocacy through which the Secretariat can support members in coping with the implications of the crisis,” said Ransford Smith, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Smith concluded that the meeting is an opportunity for the Commonwealth’s membership – drawn from all parts of the global community – to learn from each other in difficult and unprecedented economic circumstances.