A delegation of the Republic of Kosovo, lead by Minister of Economy and Finance Ahmet Shala attended the annual meetings of World Bank and International Monetary Fund, which took place over the weekend of October 11-13 at the World Bank and IMF Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

 

The Repubic of Kosovo has made the official request to join these two important world financial organization and according to Minister Shala, "the official membership will be announced in the first half of 2009."

Both World Bank and International Monetary Fund has confirmed Kosovo's application for membership, officially announcing the recognition of the newly born nation, as a sovereign and independent country  in the middle middle of July 2008.

The entire membership procedure takes between six to nine months. In order to alleviate and expedite the membership process, the delegation of the Republic of Kosovo met with officials from World Bank and International Monetary Fund and highly important representatives with decisive power, where they discussed the membership process of Kosovo in these two world organizations.

The membership in the IMF is a precondition to join the World Bank. On November of this year, will be created an admissions commission, which will present the report before the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund for the quotes and shares of the Republic of Kosovo, which are a requirement policy for membership. 

UN membership is a not a requirement to become a member of International Monetary Fund and World Bank.