GOOD MORNING and welcome to Global Playbook, coming to you from Washington where the IMF World Bank Spring meetings are in full swing. First, a Playbook Scoop … DOWNING TOOLS: The IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings may be coming to a close, but there is more drama to come at the institutions. Staff at the IMF are due to walk off the job in the coming weeks due to frustrations over recent salary changes. Details: An IMF spokesman confirmed that a one-day work stoppage is due to take place on May 1. “It is the right of those staff wishing to do so, and we respect it. We cannot speculate on how many staff will take part in this initiative,” the spokesman told Playbook, adding that 90 percent of employees are proud to be associated with the Fund according to the most recent staff engagement survey. Meanwhile, POLITICO co-hosted a party at the residence of the Ambassador of the European Union last night, where EU Commissioners Mairead McGuinness and Wopke Hoekstra had a message for attendees — Europe’s support for Ukraine remains steadfast. It was a sobering message on an otherwise sparkling evening, given the urgency now surrounding the long-delayed U.S. vote to release funding for Ukraine. Over at the IMF, MD Kristalina Georgieva hosted ministers from advanced European economies for a working dinner last night though there was one notable absence — France’s Bruno Le Maire, who was on a plane back to Paris. SAUDIS IN CHARGE MAN OF THE MOMENT: It’s D-Day for the IMF and World Bank as the IMFC — the main advisory body within the Fund — holds its plenary session this morning, with last night’s preparatory meeting wrapping up just before 11 p.m. Reminder: the last time the committee actually agreed to a communique was back in 2021, with the last few meetings descending into tense scenes in the plenary over how to characterize the war in Ukraine. In the hot seat: It’s Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan’s first rodeo, having been appointed in January to chair the committee for three years. The IMFC will mark the moment today with a handover ceremony honoring the changeover from the previous holder of the post, EIB chair Nadia Calviño. Soft power: Saudi Arabia’s prominence is the latest example of Riyadh’s increasingly visible role on the international scene, as it seeks to present itself as a serious global player under the de facto leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Kingdom, which joined the BRICS group last year, put on a lavish display at the COP28 climate talks in neighboring Dubai in December, as the oil-guzzling nation tried to present its green credentials. It has also emerged as a big lender to developing countries. Working the room: Al-Jadaan, who is accompanied by Sultan Al-Marshad, CEO of the Saudi Fund for Development, has been busy pressing the flesh here in Washington. The former lawyer, who chaired the Kingdom’s Capital Market Authority before his appointment as finance minister in 2016, participated in the G20 and Global Debt Roundtable sessions. He also found time to meet the chair of Standard Chartered, José Viñals, and BNP Paribas chair Jean Lemierre. Geopolitics intrudes: One unknown is how the Saudi chair will handle political disagreements at this morning’s plenary — not just over the war in Ukraine, but also the crisis in the Middle East, given last night’s reports that Israel has attacked targets in Iran. DEBT VULNERABILITY Don’t forget debt: Spain’s finance minister, Carlos Cuerpo, has urged international policymakers not to forget their obligations when it comes to low-income and developing countries. “I think there is an understanding that the international financial system really rose to the challenge in terms of the response after the pandemic, with the issuance of special drawing rights, with the creation of funds, such as the resilience and sustainability trust, so that we could actually deliver to those more low and middle income countries that were in need of this quick financial response after the pandemic,” Cuerpo told Playbook in an interview. “Now, I think we are in the second phase. There is still a need to go forward with additional financing for investment in climate resilience. And we need to avoid this narrative of a trade-off between financing development and financing the fight against climate change in developing countries.” Showing the way: Spain just this week approved new rules to include contingency clauses in its bilateral loans to provide debt service relief to low-income countries who are hit by climate- and health-related events, as well as food insecurity issues. Don’t blame us: World Bank top dog Axel van Trotsenburg, senior managing director at the Bank, told Playbook that the World Bank is doing its bit. “We’ve traditionally been big champions of debt sustainability — sustainable, concessional debt for the poorest countries. We want to be very ambitious to see how we can provide the strongest possible support to those countries,” he said, pointing to Africa as an example. While about 15 percent of the World Bank’s commitments went to Africa in the early 2000s, that percentage now sits at about 40-45 percent. “There’s been a very strong realignment,” he said. China angle: The elephant in the room this week is of course China, which is the biggest bilateral lender to large parts of the developing world, with struggling countries ramping up massive debts to the country. The old guard in the IMF-World Bank (aka the United States) is also resisting efforts to adjust the quotas to give China more clout, given its economic size. Let’s just say, this is not a debate that is going to resolve itself any time soon. Low profile: Though the Chinese delegation has been keeping a relatively low profile, Vice Minister of Finance Liao Min met with the IMF’s first deputy managing director, Gita Gopinath, on Thursday. Chinese officials have been busy on the other side of town on Capitol Hill, lobbying against legislation that would force a sale of TikTok as per this POLITICO scoop. BUSINESS GETS ON BOARD PRIVATE SECTOR CAPITAL: One of the features of this week’s meetings is the high preponderance of C-suite executives pounding the corridors eager to capitalize on the opportunity for face time with senior political figures. Helping Ukraine: One CEO who’s made the pilgrimage to Washington is Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan. This week, development aid agency USAID announced a deal with Bank of America and Nasdaq to help bolster Ukraine’s economic recovery. The bank will assign a senior capital markets executive to advise Ukraine’s government on how to finance the country’s rebuilding effort, Moynihan told POLITICO’s Zach Warmbrodt in an interview. Getting Wall Street onboard: “You can’t say, ‘Go fight Russia,’ and then say, ‘And by the way, you guys figure out what to do next’,” Moynihan said as he outlined the initiative. He also acknowledged the scale of the task. “You’re talking about several hundreds of billions of dollars of rebuilding funds and figuring out how to access the markets.” “What’s interesting about [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy is he’s fighting a war, in some ways of unprecedented nature, and at the same time is reforming the country and changing the internal politics and the things that went on before. So he’s really fighting on two fronts here. … Because of those two situations, you really are going to have a need for expertise to help them figure out how to finance the rebuilding of the country.” Dark times: Amid hopes of a vote in the U.S. Congress Saturday on a bunch of aid packages —including long-stalled money for Ukraine — CIA Director William Burns offered a stark warning on Thursday: If you don’t approve aid to Ukraine now, Kyiv could lose the war by the end of the year. It’s the latest alarm bell about the alarming state of the conflict in Ukraine. AROUND TOWN JUST CHILL: All getting a bit overwhelming? Then head to the third floor of the IMF’s HQ2 building and discover the “Quiet Car.” This low-key Business Executive Lounge where phone calls are prohibited, allows delegates to take a moment and ponder life while looking out over Pennsylvania Avenue. MERCH-ALERT: The World Bank Souvenir Store is doing a brisk trade this week, offering all kinds of multi-flagged merchandise from tumblers to totes. Think we might pass on the World Bank-themed “Compressed T-Shirt with Full Chest Decoration,” though … OWNING THE ROOM: That booming voice sounds familiar? The Inimitable Richard Quest was one of the first people in IMF headquarters Thursday morning, putting some interviewees through their paces for his CNN show. ART FOR ART’S SAKE: Check out the art display in the World Bank foyer which highlights kids’ submissions for the Children’s Art Prize. The task was to come up with a vision for what a “Livable Planet” looks like. Among those seen checking out the talent this week, was Ajay Banga along with Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley. SPOTTED — Italian Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti chatting with Treasury Undersecretary Jay Shambaugh in the lobby of IMF HQ2. — Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe catching up with Finnish Finance Minister Riikka Purra. — Latvia’s Finance Minister Arvils Ašeradens and central bank governor Mārtiņš Kazāks deep in conversation with Finland’s central bank chief Olli Rehn at the Nordic lunch. — At the British Embassy’s Reception last night: U.K. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Institute of International Finance CEO Tim Adams, British Ambassador Karen Pierce, former COP chief Alok Sharma, Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Christy Goldsmith Romero, Treasury Undersecretary Nellie Liang, Federal Reserve’s Michelle Bowman, Financial Services Forum President and CEO Kevin Fromer, Coinbase chief policy officer Faryar Shirzad, Milken Institute executive vice president Michael Piwowar, formerly of the Securities and Exchange Commission, American Enterprise Institute’s Michael Strain, OECD’s Claire Lombardelli, Telegraph’s Szu Ping Chan and Jeremy Warner, Bloomberg’s Philip Aldrick, FT’s Sam Fleming, POLITICO’s Zach Warmbrodt, Reuters’ Dave Lawder. — At last night’s cocktail reception hosted by POLITICO and the EU’s Ambassador to the EU: Ambassador Jovita Neliupšienė, EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness, EU Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, POLITICO’s John Harris, Jonathan Martin, Suzanne Lynch, Alex Burns, Anita Kumar, Matt Kaminski, Nahal Toosi, Irish Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, European Commission’s John Berrigan, Michael Hager, Vanessa Mock, Paul Moley, Simon O’Connor, U.S officials John McCarthy, Chad Brown, Phil Bednarczyk, ECB’s Wolfgang Proissl, Theodore Pelagidis of the Bank of Greece, Rohit Chopra of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Niamh King of Aspen Strategy Group, Mark Vlasic of Georgetown University. AGENDA — 7 a.m. International Monetary Fund Conference working breakfast. — 9 a.m. IMFC Plenary Session, Conference Hall 1. — 9 a.m. CSPF: Financing a Just Transition: Feminist Perspectives on Current Innovative Climate Finance Instruments for Countries Facing Multiple Crises. — 9.45 a.m. Monetary policy responses to the post-pandemic inflation: What happened and lessons learned, Peterson Institute for International Economics. Speakers include: Olivier Blanchard (PIIE), Bill English (Yale School of Management), Charles L. Evans (Former Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago), Kristin Forbes (MIT Sloan School of Management), Klaas Knot (De Nederlandsche Bank), Roberto Perli (Federal Reserve Bank of New York), Dave Ramsden (Bank of England), Ángel Ubide (Citadel LLC) and Carolyn A. Wilkins (Griswold Center for Economic Policy Studies, Princeton University). — Business roundtable with Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maait. — 11 a.m. Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU). — 12 p.m. Conversation with Polish Minister for Finance Andrzej Domański, Atlantic Council. — 12:30 p.m. Capital Flows and Growth: Where is the Money Going? Speakers include IMF’s Gita Gopinath, Professor Şebnem Kalemli-Özcan, Chairman of the South African Reserve Bank Lesetja Kganyago, Brazilian Central Bank Governor Roberto Campos Neto, Professor Catherine Mann. — 2 p.m. Development Committee Plenary, Preston Auditorium, World Bank. — 2.15 p.m. CSPF: The Impact of IFC Investments in Education: the Accountability Gap and Lessons for Other DFIs. — 3:15 p.m. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen meets with Swedish Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson, Finnish Finance Minister Riikka Purra, and Lithuanian Finance Minister Gintarė Skaistė. — 5 p.m. Bank of Japan’s Kazuo Ueda in conversation with Peterson Institute’s Adam Posen. — 2024 Europe-US Symposium, hosted by the Program on International Financial Systems (PIFS). Speakers include Isabel Schnabel, ECB executive board member, EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness, Santander’s Tim Wennes, European Securities and Markets Authority’s Verena Ross, Bank of England’s Sarah Breeden, Sri Elaprolu of AWS. Thanks to: Zach Warmbrodt and Adam Behsudi and editor Jones Hayden. | 
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