NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

The Boards of Governors of the IMF and the World Bank Group normally meet once a year to discuss the work of their respective institutions. The Annual Meetings, which generally take place in September/October, have customarily been held in Washington for two consecutive years and in another member country in the third year.

The Inaugural Meeting of the Boards of Governors was held in Savannah, Georgia, USA in March 1946. The first Annual Meetings were held in Washington in 1946.

The Annual Meetings include meetings of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the Development Committee, the Group of Ten, the Group of Twenty-Four, and various other constituencies. At the conclusion of their meetings, the International Monetary and Financial Committee and the Development Committee, as well as several other groups, issue communiqués. The Annual Meetings will include a plenary session, at which Governors take up matters of business. At the Annual Meetings, the Boards of Governors make decisions on how current international monetary issues should be addressed and approve corresponding resolutions. The Annual Meetings are chaired by a Governor of the IMF and the Bank, with the chairmanship rotating among the membership each year. Every two years it elects Executive Directors. Each year any new members are welcomed into the IMF and the Bank.

Because the Annual Meetings bring such a large number of member country officials together, they provide opportunities for consultations large and small, formal and informal. Numerous seminars are held in conjunction with the meetings, including seminars conducted by staff members for members of the press. These seminars are designed to foster creative dialogue among the private sector, government delegates, and senior IMF and Bank officials. The Per Jacobsson Lecture on international finance, which is sponsored by a foundation set up in honor of the IMF’s third Managing Director, is also given each year in conjunction with the Meetings.