Hong Kong, 25 September 1997 (RFE/RL) - The annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have ended in Hong Kong and were described by leaders of both institutions as a historic and successful gathering.
The finance ministers and central bank governors from 181 member nations attended the meetings, which stretched out over more than a week before the formal plenary sessions began on Tuesday.
One of the key achievements of the meetings was approval of an equity allocation of the IMF's currency, the S.D.R., to 38 countries -- most in East and Central Europe and Central Asia -- which had never received any. They had all joined since the last distribution of the special currency in 1981.
Russian First Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anatoly Chubais said the meetings were significant because for the first time Moscow did not arrive seeking more aid, but participated as a major player in the world economy.