Report of the Seventeenth Meeting of the CGIAR Finance Committee

Report of the seventeenth meeting of the CGIAR Finance Committee, held in Dresden, Germany on May 20 and 25, in conjunction with the CGIAR Mid Term Meeting 2000. The work of the Committee was reported to MTM 2000 by Committee Chairman Iain MacGillivray. The formal minutes were circulated at the end of the meeting, and annexed to the report of MTM 2000. The Committee recommended confirmation of 1999 funding at its actual level of $330 million, $10 million short because of a default by the European Commission. A financing plan for 2000 was also recommended at a level of $340 million, with an adjustment package in response to the European Commission crisis., and allocation of the World Bank contribution. For 2001 the Committee recommended a plan in the same context, with the World Bank contribution limited to 11% in view of special European Commission make-up action in 2000.The Committee endorsed the creation of a combined CGIAR/Future Harvest organization to implement the proposed longer-term financing strategy, and authorization of interim steps including development of a business plan and of a governing mechanism for the combined organization. The Committee reviewed several aspects of CGIAR financial policies: indirect costs, liquidity management, the accounting manual, internal audit procedures, and financial systems.