What Should Be the Focus at the 2026 IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings?

The 2026 International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank Spring Meetings begin today, April 13, in Washington, DC. Financial leaders from around the world will meet to discuss the state of the global economy and international issues, such as the growth outlook, financial stability and poverty reduction. However, ongoing conflicts have exerted significant financial strain on many economies, upending global financial and energy markets and slowing growth.

As discussions around global crisis are likely to dominate the agenda, we asked four CIGI experts for their perspectives on the key issues that should take centerstage at the 2026 World Bank and IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings 2026.

A New Alliance

These meetings are taking place against a grim backdrop of multiple wars and collapsing alliances. The discussions will have to focus on the economic consequences: declining trade, financial uncertainty and stress. How to improve matters is far from obvious, especially in the absence of clear leadership.

Will these be the grimmest meetings in the eight-decade history of the IMF and World Bank? The September 1971 meetings opened with a speech by the IMF managing director lamenting “serious disarray…and an abandonment of the rules of law” after the United States ended convertibility of the dollar. The September 1982 meetings were held amid crises in Argentina and Mexico that threatened the solvency of the banks that underpinned the international monetary system. Following those two funereal gatherings, leaders devised solutions: a managed system of floating exchange rates and the conversion of the IMF into the manager of international financial crises.

Those adaptations succeeded because shifting groups of allied countries — the Group of 10 and later the Group of Five — worked to formulate and implement solutions. If today’s meetings are to succeed, a new alliance will have to form and hold together long enough to rebuild a cooperative financial system.

A Global Economic Crisis

The de facto closing of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran, instigated by the US-Israeli war on Iran in late February, is the issue that should take centre stage at the 2026 IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings. This is because it will highly likely unleash a series of catastrophic global economic crises beyond just the short-term supply shock.

First, the negative economic impact that the strait’s closing will have on many Global South countries — particularly in Asia — that are dependent on oil imports from the vital choke point, is already hitting the most vulnerable. The political fallout of this, however, has yet to be felt. Oil prices have been tied to previous political protests and unrest, and we should expect this to happen soon in many parts of the world.

Second, with a third of global fertilizers passing through the waterway during a critical time for spring planting, food prices will invariably rise at a time when affordability is already low for much of the world. Again, protests are likely to ensue on this issue. Lastly, jet fuel prices are rising steadily because much of the supply comes from the Persian Gulf, hurting countries dependent on tourism in the high peak-summer season. One month into this conflict, much of the supply of these shipped products is just starting to be missed, and, hence, the political fallout is set to begin at a time when policy makers at the Spring Meetings are discussing the very health of the global economy.

Enhancing Transparency and Trust

A key issue for the 2026 IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings is the growing impact of geopolitical tensions on global trade.

Trade frictions between the world’s two largest economies — the United States and China — alongside the conflict in the Middle East, are disrupting supply chains, raising energy and food prices and weakening growth prospects.

In response, governments are increasingly resorting to industrial policies to protect domestic industries — further underscoring the need to reform the World Trade Organization (WTO) and address its persistent transparency gaps.

WTO transparency obligations suffer from chronic under-compliance, a concern particularly salient for the United States and other relatively transparent economies.

There is broad agreement that the WTO needs to update key rules — notably on subsidies — and reform some working practices, such as interpreting that consensus-based decision making requires unanimous support, even for negotiations where objecting countries do not intend to participate. However, geopolitical divisions have stalled progress, as evidenced by the inability of trade ministers meeting in Cameroon (March 26–29, 2026) to even agree on a reform work program.

In such a context, the IMF’s International Monetary and Financial Committee and the World Bank’s Development Committee could play a critical role in rebuilding trust by promoting the systematic collection and dissemination of trade-related information through their extensive country-level presence.

Practical steps could include involving WTO staff in IMF article IV annual consultations, and IMF and World Bank country teams in WTO Trade Policy Reviews and monitoring exercises.

Such cooperation would enhance transparency — and trust — without requiring new mandates, simply by better leveraging existing institutional frameworks.

Global Jobs Challenge

We should expect to see IMF updates on the global economy underscore a widening divergence between countries that are successfully leveraging artificial intelligence, data and digital infrastructure to raise productivity — notably, the United States, India and, in some respects, the United Kingdom — and those facing deeper structural adjustment challenges, including much of the euro area, as well as China and Japan. At the same time, the economic consequences of the Iran war are likely to increase inflationary pressures, debt vulnerabilities and broader uncertainty around energy, trade routes and supply chains.

From an international development perspective, this points to a more difficult policy environment in which debt sustainability, growth and job creation can no longer be treated separately. A credible strategy will be needed to help developing countries manage both public and private debt risks while also advancing structural reforms that can support stronger growth and employment. In that context, World Bank Group discussions are likely to focus heavily on the “global jobs challenge,” particularly given that labour force growth is expected to outpace job creation across much of the developing world in the coming years.

A parallel and continuing challenge for both the IMF and the World Bank Group will be institutional legitimacy and governance. Calls for reform remain strong, especially around IMF quotas and voice for emerging and developing economies. At a moment of geopolitical fragmentation and economic strain, both institutions will need to remain focused, effective and politically credible. Their ability to function well will be critical not only for international macroeconomic coordination, but also for sustaining confidence in the broader development system. All this at a time when the UN system is significantly weakened.