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SPRING MEETINGS

At the heart of the gathering are meetings of the joint Development Committee and the IMF's International Monetary and Financial Committee, which discuss progress on the work of the World Bank Group and the IMF. Also featured are seminars, regional briefings, press conferences, and other events focused on the global economy, international development, and the world's financial markets.

The plenary session of the IMF and the World Bank Group Boards of Governors is scheduled only during the Annual Meetings in the autumn.

ANNUAL MEETINGS

The Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG) normally meet once a year to discuss the work of their respective institutions. The Annual Meetings, which generally take place in October, have customarily been held in Washington for two consecutive years and in another member country in the third year.

The Inaugural Meeting of the Boards of Governors was held in Savannah, Georgia, USA in March 1946. The first Annual Meetings were held in Washington in 1946.

The Annual Meetings include meetings of the Development Committee, the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the Group of Twenty Four, the Group of Twenty, and various other constituencies. At the conclusion of their meetings, the Development Committee and the International Monetary and Financial Committee, as well as several other groups, issue communiqués and public statements. The Annual Meetings include a plenary session, at which Governors take up the official business of the institutions. At the Annual Meetings, the Boards of Governors make decisions on how current international monetary issues should be addressed and approve corresponding resolutions. The Annual Meetings are chaired by a Governor of the IMF and the WBG, with the chairmanship rotating among the membership each year. Each year any new members are welcomed into the IMF and the WBG.

Because the Annual Meetings bring such a large number of member country officials together, this provides an excellent opportunity for extensive dialogue among a wide range of stakeholders from member countries. In this context, the seminars and other public events held in conjunction with the meetings aim to foster creative dialogue among the government delegates, senior IMF and Bank officials, private sector, civil society, media, and other stakeholders. The Per Jacobsson Lecture on international finance, which is sponsored by a foundation set up in honor of the IMF's third Managing Director, is also given each year in conjunction with the Meetings.