Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Finance reported on the first day of the second edition of the AlUla Conference on Emerging Market Economies, hosted in AlUla and organized with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), bringing together finance ministers, central bank governors and international financial institutions to discuss policy challenges amid changes in international trade and financial systems. In inaugural remarks, Finance Minister Mohammed Aljadaan highlighted debt sustainability pressures in emerging and developing economies and called for stronger international coordination to improve debt restructuring outcomes. The ministry pointed to rising public debt, higher borrowing costs and reduced access to concessional finance as factors constraining fiscal space, and referenced G20 efforts including the Debt Service Suspension Initiative and the Common Framework, with emphasis on faster implementation, greater transparency and better creditor coordination. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva cited IMF research indicating improvements in emerging market policy frameworks, including more independent central banks, clearer inflation targets and stronger fiscal frameworks, and flagged private sector-led growth and deeper regional integration as priorities. Side events included the Islamic Development Bank Group’s inauguration of its Concessional Finance Fund, an IMF–Arab Monetary Fund memorandum of understanding to strengthen cooperation, and sessions covering trade tensions, global uncertainty in monetary and financial systems, capital flow volatility, and monetary policy tools including exchange market interventions and capital flow management.

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