Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Catriona Purfield, Director of the Institute for Capacity Development, issued a statement following a visit to Saudi Arabia:
“The IMF and the Ministry of Finance of Saudi Arabia held their second high-level strategic dialogue on their capacity development partnership and agreed a suite of support to IMF capacity development across the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and globally.
The participants discussed how the Saudi Arabia-IMF partnership can further economic reforms and respond to increasing demand for capacity development (CD) from IMF member countries across the world, especially in times of heightened global and regional uncertainty, including from the war in the Middle East. They exchanged insights on priorities and strategies for economic growth and improved resilience of the member countries in the Middle East and beyond.
“The capacity development partnership between Saudi Arabia and the IMF commenced in 2024, and amounts to $279 million over ten years, making Saudi Arabia the third largest partner of the IMF’s capacity development work. Across three pillars, the Saudi Ministry of Finance supports the Middle East North Africa region (through the Regional Office in Riyadh, self-financed capacity development to Saudi Arabia, the Middle East Regional Technical Assistance Center (METAC), the Somalia Country Fund), sub-Saharan Africa (through the IMF’s network for African Regional Capacity Development Centers) and global priorities (through the IMF’s thematic funds).
“The IMF’s Regional Office in Riyadh was established to strengthen policy dialogue in the region, improve regional coordination, and help respond to increased demand for capacity development, complementing the work of the IMF’s Middle East Center for Economics and Finance (CEF) in Kuwait and METAC in Lebanon.
“The Regional Office in Riyadh’s partnership with Saudi Arabia has strengthened the IMF’s capacity development to IMF member countries, including 31 activities across the MENA region and beyond, targeting over 800 participants during the fiscal year 2026. The continued success of such strategic engagements highlights the importance of partnerships to drive economic transformation and contribute to regional and global economic stability.
“The High-Level Dialogue was co-chaired by Abdulmuhsen Alkhalaf, Vice Minister of Finance, and attended by Abdullah bin Zarah, Assistant Minister, Turki Abalala, Assistant Deputy Minister, Mohamed Alrashed, Executive Director for Saudi Arabia at the IMF, and several senior IMF staff including Bert Kroese, Chief Statistician, Data Officer, Director of the Statistics Department, Montford Mlachila, Deputy Director of the African Department, Franck Bousquet, Deputy Director of the Institute for Capacity Development, Abdoul Aziz Wane, Director of the Regional Office in Riyadh, and Monique Newiak, Director of METAC.
read more: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2026/05/18/pr26155-saudi-arabia-2nd-high-level-strategic-dialogue-cd
