WASHINGTON – The International Monetary Fund and World Bank will stick with plans to hold their annual meetings in Morocco in October despite a devastating earthquake in September that claimed about 3,000 lives.
The meetings are scheduled for Oct 9-15.
The IMF and World Bank said an assessment concluded that the meetings would not disrupt relief and reconstruction.
Instead, they would “provide an opportunity for the international community to stand by Morocco and its people, who have once again shown resilience in the face of tragedy”.
“As we look ahead to the Meetings, it is of utmost importance that we conduct them in a way that does not hamper the relief efforts under way and that is respectful to the victims and the Moroccan people,” a statement said.
The North African kingdom had said in the aftermath of the Sept 8 quake that it was committed to holding the gathering.
The epicentre of Morocco’s most powerful temblor in a century struck south of Marrakech in the High Atlas mountains and damaged some of the city.
The annual meetings by the multinational lenders are the first on the African continent since 1973.
They are expected to give a major spending boost to Marrakech, one of Morocco’s top tourist destinations.
The upcoming meetings were originally scheduled for 2021, but had been delayed because of the pandemic. BLOOMBERG
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