The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Saudi Arabia agreed on Sunday to establish "an informal coordination group" to support the international response to the recovery of economies affected by conflicts in the Middle East region, in close collaboration with other partners.

This is the main message of a joint statement made by the IMF's Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, and the Saudi Finance Minister, Mohammed Aljadaan, published on Monday.

It was made on the occasion of a "high-level" roundtable on the theme "Working Together to Support the Recovery of Economies Affected by Conflicts in the Middle East," bringing together the finance ministers of countries in the region, Syrian Foreign Minister Assaad al-Shaibani, representatives from the World Bank, as well as officials from other international financial institutions and the Arab Coordination Group. This roundtable was organized on the sidelines of the annual Global Conference on Emerging Market Economies in Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 16 and 17.

"This important meeting brought together representatives from the Middle East and key economic and development partners to discuss how we can work together to support the recovery of the economies affected by conflicts in the Middle East. We thank all participants for recognizing the urgency and importance of this task, as well as for their commitment to working together to enable conflict-affected countries to start addressing their humanitarian needs. This will help them begin rebuilding their economies in an effective, swift, and sustainable manner, for the benefit of their populations," said Kristalina Georgieva and Mohammed Aljadaan.

The discussions of the newly formed informal group will continue during the IMF and World Bank spring meetings from April 21 to 26, 2025, in Washington.