Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 25 October 2023 – The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and International Monetary Fund have committed to enhance the long-standing cooperation between the two international institutions and to scale up partnerships and joint work in the areas of Islamic finance and climate & green transition.

Several topics were featured during the meeting between the IsDB President and Group Chairman, H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser, and Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF), in the sideline of the 7th. edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in the capital city of Riyadh.

‘’IsDB was pleased to expand its partnership with the IMF in 2015 to support capacity development in Islamic finance. I reiterate IsDB's readiness to work with the IMF to bring it to fruition in order to draw attention to the slow pace of implementation” Dr. Al Jasser stated. “IsDB is ready to expand engagement with IMF on Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP), building on our experience with the Djibouti and Pakistan FSAPs” he continued.

For her part Ms. Kristalina expressed interest in deepening the partnership with IsDB beyond Islamic finance, especially on climate action, supported by the Resilience & Sustainability Trust, a US$50 billion trust fund established by IMF in 2022 to help low income countries and vulnerable middle-income countries build resilience to balance payment shocks and ensure a sustainable recovery.

Underlining the IsDB’s gratitude to the IMF for the excellent cooperation and support extended to the IsDB statistics team, Dr. Al Jasser extended the invitation to the IMF Managing Director, as a special guest, to attend the IsDB 50th anniversary celebration event on April 2024 in Riyadh.