The National Bank delegation chaired by the Governor, Mr. Galymzhan Pirmatov, participated in the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Washington DC.

The Governor of the National Bank participated in the International Monetary and Financial Committee meeting, along with the IMF Managing Director Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, heads of Government, Ministers of Finance and the Economy, heads of developed countries’ and emerging market economies’ central banks and international financial institutions. Representatives of the National Bank also took part in the Swiss Constituency meeting. During this review meeting, the Executive Directors of the Constituency presented a report on the Constituency activities and the main initiatives of the IMF and the World Bank to the participants. The Constituency member states have also informed on the macroeconomic situation in their countries given the geopolitical tensions and the impact of sanctions against Russia, and discussed the growing inflationary pressure in the world and the role of reforms in economic recovery.

In the framework of the formal IMF events, a number of bilateral meetings were held with the participation of the National Banks’ senior officials. One of them was a meeting of the Governor of the National Bank with the IMF Managing Director, Ms. Kristalina Georgieva. The parties discussed the current geopolitical situation in the region and its implications for the economy of Kazakhstan.

The delegates of the National Bank also had a bilateral meeting with the President of the European Central Bank, Ms. Christine Lagarde. During this meeting they covered issues of monetary policy implementation in the current realities, quantitative tightening measures, and the impact of sanctions against Russia on the financial market of Kazakhstan.

The National Bank delegation headed by the Governor, Mr. Galymzhan Pirmatov, also held talks with the IMF Deputy Managing Director, Mr. Bo Li and the Director of Middle East and Central Asia Department at the IMF, Mr. Jihad Azour to discuss the implications of sanctions against Russia, current and prospective matters of cooperation agenda, including mobilization of the IMF technical assistance, as well as the physical opening of the IMF Regional Center for Capacity Development in Almaty.

Additionally, the management of the National Bank met with the IMF’s Economic Counsellor, Mr. Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas and the IMF’s Financial Counsellor, Mr. Tobias Adrian. The parties discussed the macroeconomic landscape in the Caucasus and Central Asia region, as well as the peculiarities of monetary policy implementation in the inflationary pressure context.

Bilateral meetings were also held with the management of the National Bank and Governors of the central banks of Switzerland, Poland, Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Ministry of Finance of Switzerland. The parties discussed topical issues within the central banks’ mandates and prospective areas of bilateral cooperation.

In addition, the National Bank met with global investors and, jointly with the Government of Kazakhstan, held meetings with rating agencies (S&P, Fitch, Moody’s) to present information on the current macroeconomic situation in the country and response measures taken by the Government. Meetings were also held with counterparties of the National Bank during the visit.

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