In its capacity as the Secretariat of the OIC-COMCEC Central Banks Forum, the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye organized and hosted the 4^th Meeting of the Forum on 25-26 September 2022 in Istanbul, Türkiye. The meeting brought together Governors and High-level Senior Officials from the Central Banks of OIC Member Countries to discuss the current global and OIC economic outlook and to exchange views on promoting cooperation among OIC countries within the framework of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC) financial cooperation agenda.

H.E. Mr. Nebil DABUR, Director General of SESRIC, addressed the Forum as a lead speaker and shared with the participants an overview of the economic and financial outlook of OIC countries, mostly with highlights from the Centre’s forthcoming research report, titled “OIC Economic Outlook 2022”. Noting that most macroeconomic indicators deteriorated significantly all over the world in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. DABUR underlined that the world entered a recovery phase in the year 2021, which witnessed a rebound from the unprecedented crisis. He stated that, with the resumption of economic activities, the global economic growth was estimated at 6.1% in 2021 after a contraction of 3.1% in 2020. This rebound was supported by a strong recovery in both developed and developing countries, he added.

Emphasizing the global impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war, Mr. DABUR stressed that, despite the remarkable recovery in 2021, the global economic outlook remained highly fragile and uncertain amid the war, which was compounding the damage from the COVID-19 pandemic by exacerbating supply-side shocks, disrupting international commodity markets, and driving inflation to unprecedented heights across the world. In this context, Mr. DABUR drew attention to the recent downward revisions in global economic growth forecasts for the 2022 and 2023 made by many international organisations such as the IMF, World Bank, and OECD.

In this regard, Mr. DABUR highlighted the heightening risks that weigh on the global economic and financial outlook. These included the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, disruptions caused by the Russia-Ukraine war, removal of policy accommodation around the world in response to inflationary pressures and rising interest rates, and high food and energy prices. He pointed out that, while many OIC countries were already struggling to “return to normal” after two years into the pandemic, these new challenges would make it even harder to get back on track, if not further worsen. Also, noting the growing trend in geopolitical risks and the threat of conflicts, Mr. DABUR concluded by emphasizing the importance of strengthening resilience to future shocks and expressed his aspiration that the Forum would be highly instrumental in promoting and enhancing cooperation among the OIC countries.

On the session titled “Workshop Deliverables”, Mr. DABUR also summarized the outcomes of the Workshop on “Best Practices on Promoting Financial Literacy and Islamic Finance in the OIC Member Countries” which was organized by SESRIC and held on the sidelines of the Forum in cooperation with the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye. The Workshop was the last activity of SESRIC project titled “Strengthening Financial Literacy and Promoting Islamic Finance in the OIC Member Countries”, which is funded by the COMCEC under the 9th Call for Project Proposals of COMCEC Project Funding, and implemented in collaboration with the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye, Bank Indonesia and Financial Services Authority of Indonesia. Mr. DABUR also presented the List of Recommendations that was discussed and agreed upon during the Workshop by the attending delegates as an outcome document towards assisting the OIC Member Countries in their efforts towards strengthening Financial Literacy and promoting Islamic Finance.

The 4^th Meeting of the OIC-COMCEC Central Banks Forum was concluded with the adoption of an official Communique.

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