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At their annual meeting held today in Washington DC, Commonwealth Central Bank Governors came together to discuss strategies to best work together to tackle inflation at a time when the global economy is facing excessive inflationary pressures driven by geopolitical tensions, coupled with the disruption in supply chain.

A blog by: Akeem Rahaman, Economic Advisor, Sophie Brain, Research Officer, and James Gregory, Research Officer work in the Economic Policy and Small States Directorate of the ����̽��.

Pamella McLaren, the Advisor and Head of the Debt Management of the Commonwealth Meridian Secretariat, has challenged 35 debt managers of the sub-region to utilize the use of the “Commonwealth Meridian” system for financial debt data collection, reporting, and monitoring within member countries.

By Brendan Vickers, Head, International Trade Policy Section; Salamat Ali, Economic Adviser, Trade Economist and Neil Balchin, Economic Adviser, Trade Policy Analysis, The ����̽��, London.

The ����̽��’s Debt Management Unit (DMU) in collaboration with the Development Bank of Jamaica Limited delivered a workshop and forum for Caribbean Public Debt Managers in Jamaica.

This week the ����̽�� held a four-day workshop in the Maldives for grassroots female entrepreneurs to help them leverage digital infrastructure opportunities for E-Commerce and Digital Marketing.

Last week the ����̽�� held a three-day workshop in Nepal for grassroots female entrepreneurs to help them leverage digital infrastructure opportunities for E-Commerce and Digital Marketing.

The ����̽�� is offering a host of new e-learning courses on its public debt management system, Commonwealth Meridian, first launched in 2019.

Blog by Neil Balchin, Economic Adviser, International Trade Policy Section

Last month, the Commonwealth Trade Competitiveness team together with the Gambia’s Ministry of Trade and the Gambia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (GiEPA) held a two-day exporters’ stakeholder forum aimed at identifying the most efficient ways to ensure the successful implementation of the Gambia’s National Export Strategy (NES) for 2021-2025.

By Brendan Vickers, Economic Adviser and Head, International Trade Policy Section; Salamat Ali, Economic Adviser & Trade Economist and Neil Balchin, Economic Adviser, Trade Policy Analysis, The ����̽��

A new toolkit launched in the margins of the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 aims to unlock clean energy investments for small island nations, many of whom rely heavily on imported fossil fuels for power generation.

Breaking the world’s reliance on fossil fuels and accelerating the global uptake of renewable energy will play a decisive role in diminishing the threat of global warming to the survival of life on earth, according to experts. But turning the vision into reality will demand unwavering political will and, critically, massive investment, which can no longer be shouldered solely by aid and development partners.

After three years in the making, last week the ����̽�� launched its new Voluntary Information and Price-Sharing database (VIPSD). One-third of the world’s population lacks access to essential medicines, with most of them living in poor countries, while rising prices of new drugs are becoming a challenge in wealthy states. And, since the global Covid-19 pandemic, the urgent need for essential medicines has intensified.

At their annual meeting, Commonwealth Finance Ministers were urged to take action to change the current development finance architecture, enhance access to finance for countries vulnerable to climate change and address debt sustainability.

At UNCTAD15 in Barbados, Commonwealth Secretary-General spoke on a hybrid virtual and in-person roundtable on the theme of ‘Regional integration for a resilient, inclusive and sustainable future’.

More than 200 women have completed a Women Economic Entrepreneurship Training (WEET) programme, delivered in collaboration with the ����̽��, to empower them with the skills to establish their own businesses.