Absolute blessing of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to theassociation agreement with Europewhich is pending the determination of its legal nature. In the first official visit to principality from the managing director, Kristalina Georgievaafter that Andorra he became the 190th member of the institution in full covid-19 pandemictheFMI showed maximum harmony with the intentions of the executive and warned that rejecting the deal would be detrimental to the health of the country’s economy.
“The more integrated a country is, the more prepared it will be to face challenges”
Georgieva he emphasized that having access to the European market is “a great source of economic diversification” and that it will provide more opportunities to face a future that he defined as uncertain.In this world, the more integrated a country is, the more prepared it will be to face challenges“, he emphasized. At the same time, Georgieva praised the Government for the negotiating capacity with the top European leaders and considered that he has been able to protect the characteristics of the country.
“The IMF has established itself as a trusted partner and an ally for the upcoming reforms”
Yesterday was one scheduled appointment in red the calendar of government, but also of theIMFwhich he sent to principality all its senior management, headed by Georgieva, by the executive director, Jeroen Clickfor assistant director of the Department of Studies, Helge Berger, and for head of mission in Andorra, Jeff Danforth. All of this served to project an image of collaboration and understanding between the two parties at a key moment for the future of the country. In this sense, the Head of Government, Xavier Espotnoted that “the IMF has established itself as a trusted partner” and as an ally in the face of the upcoming economic reforms that the Principality will have to carry out. In addition, he highlighted “have the technical knowledge” and of the independent view of the institution, which evaluates all countries with the same criteria.
Kristalina Georgieva and Xavier Espot during the IMF visit yesterday.
In one of the latest reports, the body highlighted the good state of the Andorran banking systembut he also warned of the risk posed by his dimension on the gross domestic product. About this item, Georgieva he limited himself to highlighting the commitment to the transparency of the banking sector, and recalled that as members of the institution, “we can give you a lot more data to have the best possible information and take the appropriate decisions.” In fact, the organization intends to present another report to the Government soon.
the economy
Georgieva did not stop praise in his intervention the Andorran economy. “It is in a healthy state. There is almost full employment. Everyone who wants to work in Andorra find a job”, he asserted, and added that the partnership agreement would mean opening up to a market of 450 million people. Regarding the inflation rate of 4.9%, higher than that of neighboring countries, the leader took issue with it and argued that “it is not out of context”, pointing out that the united states they have also reached similar thresholds and trust that in the coming months it will tend to stabilize.
During the appearance, Georgieva he did not make any mention of one of the country’s main problems, such as the housing crisisdespite the fact that in the previous meeting he held with the head of Government yes it was mentioned. The executive leader himself, Xavier Spotexplained that the institution sees with good eyes than the government surplus be used to expand the public housing stock. Beyond the political content of the visit that also featured a work session with those responsible for the portfolios of Economy and Finance, Conxita Marsol and Ramon Lladósthe organization met at noon with the country’s main economic agents, a circumstance highlighted by the head of government. “He wanted grasp the anxieties and worries of the different business sectors of our country”, emphasized Espot.
THE PARALLELISM WITH LIECHTENSTEIN
IMF Director Kristalina Georgievastressed the importance of small states maintaining lines of collaboration between them, and in this sense, he highlighted the similarities that Andorra keep with Liechtenstein. This alpine state, the second richest in the world after Monaco in terms of concentration of wealth and with whom the principality shares demographic, economic and orographic features, followed the Andorran path four years later and became thestate number 191 to be part of the institutionOctober 2024.
