Finance Minister to visit World Bank, IMF

Finance Minister Bill English leaves tomorrow for New York and Washington DC, where he will visit the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, and meet Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.

During the visit, Mr English will attend the annual meeting of the World Bank board of governors. He will also hold discussions with a range of business, financial market and government representatives.

“This visit is timely, in light of economic and financial market events around the world in recent months,” Mr English says.

“In particular, ongoing concern about debt in Europe and the United States reinforces the need for New Zealand to press on with its programme of building faster growth around savings and investment, with less reliance on borrowing from foreign lenders.

“I’m looking forward to meeting a number of other finance ministers at the World Bank – including the Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren.

“Given the economic uncertainty and volatility we’ve seen in Europe and the United States this year, it’s important that New Zealand continues to engage with its trading partners and share ideas on managing common challenges.”

Mr English returns to New Zealand on 27 September.