Some countries implement important public-sector initiatives to provide a sound footing for private-sector fintech activities, including payment-systems’ modernisation in Egypt and Morocco, Tobias Adrian, financial counsellor and Monetary and Capital Markets Department director, at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said.
“We follow-up on how our member countries are incorporating the high-level considerations proposed in the Bali Fintech Agenda (BFA), in their national frameworks,” he mentioned at Rabat Conference on the BFA, on Wednesday.
“Promoting progress in fintech will surely be a daunting challenge for policymakers,” he noted, adding, “we aim to reap the potential benefits of new financial technologies, while also managing their risks.”
The BFA started, in response to the call by many member countries of the World Bank Group and the IMF, to have a high-level conceptual framework that can tie together the numerous challenges inherent in the digitalisation of financial services, he elaborated.
The bank and the fund have already started to set a BFA agenda into action following its launch last October at the annual meetings, he elaborated.
“We have already conducted a survey with more than 100 responses that will provide insights into how our membership sees the agenda’s priorities,” he mentioned.
The survey results, combined with a summary of recent fintech developments and regulatory responses, will soon be presented in a formal paper to the IMF Executive Board, he noted.
The IMF is furthering its understanding of fintech issues through dialogue with national authorities in the context of the IMF’s Article IV consultation and the Financial Sector Assessment Programme reports, he acknowledged.
Notably, the IMF and Morocco have started a broad partnership towards hosting the 2021 IMF annual meetings in Marrakesh.
