The Director of the African Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Abebe Aemro Selassie, has said the Fund is well-positioned to offer guidance on global trade tensions, including trade wars, leveraging its convening power and policy expertise.

Speaking in an interview with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV’s The Point of View on Wednesday, January 21, Mr. Abebe Selassie highlighted the IMF’s role in bringing world leaders together to address major international economic challenges.

“One of the great things about our institution is that we have really great convening power,” he said, adding that the IMF actively engages on “many of the important issues of the day,” including global imbalances and the impact of artificial intelligence on labour markets.”

Mr. Abebe Selassie explained that the IMF convenes finance ministers from around the world twice a year in Washington for the Spring and Annual Meetings, where “fairly intense discussions are had” on global economic developments.

“We provide extensive support to others, global configurations like the G20 and G7. We provide input into their deliberations, particularly in this area of global cooperation, fiscal policy, and monetary policy,” he said.

He further noted that the IMF engages central bankers and other policymakers through various forums, creating opportunities for leaders to interact with their peers.

“Leaders across the world value the fact that they can sit with their peer groups and discuss some of these issues,” Mr. Abebe Selassie said, while acknowledging that reaching agreement is often challenging.

“Resolution is not always easy, but at least we facilitate a lot of discussions and put forward a lot of ideas,” he added.