A new online course, free of charge for local banks and other financial institutions and aimed at increasing understanding of financial market development and inclusion, has been launched this week at the IMF/World Bank Group annual meetings in Washington DC.
The course is the fruit of partnership between the EIB and the IMF, and is seen as crucial in helping to promote financial access and inclusive growth.
EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle who is in charge of Development at the EU Bank, joined the IMF’s Chief Administrative Officer Carla Grasso to launch the course.
He said: “Financial sectors in many developing countries still lack the depth needed to play a transformative role in their economies. At the European Investment Bank, we support the development of thriving local private sectors in emerging economies including in the most fragile states in the world, via credit lines to banks, through microfinance institutions and private equity funds. But long-term risk-absorbing finance is only one part of the equation. We also need to strengthen local capacity to ensure that the impact of our interventions are even more long lasting.”
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EIB Vice-President Fayolle added: “This is why we joined forces with the IMF in 2017 to begin a Capacity Development Partnership. Our partnership aims to provide concrete backing to upstream Technical Assistance efforts across the African continent and beyond. Since we strongly believe in universal access and leaving noone behind, we leveraged the power of technology to overcome geographical barriers.”
IMF Chief Administrative Officer Carla Grasso praised the collaboration between the two institutions and added : “It brings us a step closer to our objectives under the Sustainable Development Goals that relate to macroeconomic and financial stability and inclusive economic growth.”
Background
The EIB and the IMF brought together their expertise in banking and financial sector policy to offer this course that focusses on financial intermediation as a driver of inclusive and resilient growth. It specifically addresses mid-level to senior staff of financial intermediaries, academia, government, businesses and SME associations.
The online course provides standard risk management methodologies for SME lending and reviews the use of technology in the financial sector. Participants can learn why financial development and inclusion matter for inclusive and resilient growth and how financial products and services can be attuned to the needs of private sector enterprises and SMEs.