David Nummy Introduces First Day of ICGFM Spring Conference

ICGFM Conference Co-Chair, David Nummy, of Grant Thornton, introduced the agenda for "The New Normal", Exploring the Post-Financial Crisis World.

Mr. Nummy mentioned the content being broadcast on Twitter at http://twitter.com/icgfm (@icgfm) and http://twitter.com/icgfmprograms (@icgfmprograms). He encouraged conference members to participate in blogs and videography.

ICGFM uses audience participation using interactive voting. First survey results:

In what region of the world do you normally reside:

• Africa 33%
  
• Europe 3%
• Asia/Pacific 12%
• North America 38%
• South America 14%

Is this the first ICGFM conference that you have attended?

• Yes 49%
  
• No 51%

77% of the audience comes from countries that receive donor assistance.

Mr. Nummy pointed out that an annual budget deficit of 3% has been considered fiscally responsible. He asked the audience how many G7 countries are running a budget deficit under 5% of GDP. The correct answer is one: Canada. He pointed out that 7% GDP budget deficit has been considered only for the most unstable countries. 4 countries of the G7 are running deficits higher than 7% of GDP : UK, US, Japan and France.

David Nummy is the executive director of the Grant Thornton global public-sector division. He was the managing director for fiscal accountability at the Millennium Challenge Corp. Prior to that, he was a senior adviser for budget policy and management with the U.S. Department of the Treasury for nearly 10 years, managing a worldwide program focusing on public-sector development in developing countries.