WASHINGTON D.C– Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene is leading the South African delegation to the annual Spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Washington this week.

This is his first attendance at the gathering since being re-appointed finance minister earlier this year after former President Jacob Zuma fired him in December 2015.

Nene returns to one of the pre-emininent gatherings of economic, financial and development stakeholders just days after the IMF upgraded its growth forecast for South Africa to 1.5 per cent for 2018 with expectations that the global economy will grow by 3.9 per cent — it’s strongest showing since 2011.

While political changes have shifted sentiment in a positive direction towards South Africa, Nene must grapple with IMF concerns about bottlenecks that continue to hamper the need for structural changes to the economy that will ensure critically needed accelerated economic growth.

South African Reserve Bank Governor Leseja Kganyago, who is also in the delegation, will be chairing the influential International Monetary and Financial Committee, which will likely highlight possible downturns in the medium term which may derail the positive sentiment in the global economy and hamper those economies which are currently stuck in a low growth trap.

Building resilience is likely to be a key talking point during the discussions here over the weekend.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK