March 19, 2018

Mr. Tao Zhang, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), met today with Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay in Thimphu. Following the meeting, Mr. Zhang made the following statement:

“It is my pleasure to visit the Kingdom of Bhutan for the first time. I would like to thank Prime Minister Tobgay, Royal Monetary Authority Governor Dasho Penjore, Finance Minister Namgay Dorji and representatives of the Bhutanese society for their warm welcome and hospitality.

“During our meeting, Prime Minister Tobgay and I discussed Bhutan’s latest economic and social developments. I congratulated him on the remarkable decline in poverty rates and the increase in per capita incomes over the past decades.

“In our conversation, we also discussed how the IMF can help Bhutan build on these achievements, including through capacity-building in areas such as implementing a goods and services tax (GST), enhancing the management of public finances, strengthening financial sector regulation and supervision, and modernizing the monetary policy framework. We at the IMF value our relationship with Bhutan and we are committed to continue to support Bhutan and its people on these and other endeavors.”