The international economic outlook and its impact on sustainability and innovation dominated discussions at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings, held in late October in Washington, D.C. ANBIMA followed the event’s programming and, in parallel, held a series of institutional meetings in the U.S. capital.

During the event’s opening panel, led by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, challenges to post-Covid-19 economic normalization were highlighted.

“The world emerged from the pandemic with higher debt, as well as higher service inflation and interest rates; now we are on a path toward economic normalization,” commented Marcelo da Silva Cidade, ANBIMA’s economic advisor who attended the event in Washington.

The expectation, as Georgieva noted in the panel, is that this normalization will occur despite short-term obstacles, such as political ones, and structural challenges, like climate change, which are here to stay.

In this regard, Cidade underscored the economic impact of climate change, as it directly affects commodity prices, for example. Furthermore, climate issues are central on the agenda of the IMF and World Bank, with discussions on what financial agents must do to mitigate these risks during the transition to a more sustainable economy.

“The insurance sector emerged as a significant topic in the climate change panels. The need to include insurers from the start of every developed project, for risk assessment and pricing, was discussed across various sessions,” said Ana Flávia Lopes, ANBIMA’s International Representation coordinator, who also attended the event.

Debates on innovation were widely addressed throughout the event. Christine Lagarde, head of the European Central Bank, and Roberto Campos Neto, president of the Central Bank of Brazil, participated in a panel addressing cross-border payments. Campos Neto outlined Brazil’s advances in tokenization and the development of the digital real, known as Drex.

In the realm of innovation, discussions on artificial intelligence were also prominent. “There was a strong focus on the importance of technology, which can bring many benefits, while also calling attention to the care and concerns that should accompany the use of these tools,” Lopes noted.

ANBIMA also held institutional meetings with representatives from the Investment Company Institute (ICI) and the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) to exchange experiences and assess joint projects. The new regulation of investment funds in Brazil (CVM Resolution 175) and COP30, to be held in Belém in 2025, were among the key topics discussed.