The World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund have issued the following joint statement to the G20 concerning debt relief for the poorest countries:
The World Bank and IFC’s Boards of Directors approved an increased US$ 14 billion package of fast-track financing to assist companies and countries in their efforts to prevent, detect and respond to the rapid spread of COVID-19. The package will strengthen national systems for public health preparedness, including for disease containment, diagnosis, and treatment, and support the private sector.
World Bank aid payments to the neediest countries appear to trigger money flows to offshore bank accounts, suggesting funds are siphoned off from the nations they are meant to help, according to a study published on Tuesday.
The World Bank will revise its global growth forecast downwards due to the new coronavirus, the president of the multilateral lender said on Tuesday amid fears the epidemic in China will harm global supply chains.
Global economic growth is likely to be only slightly faster this year than the weak 0performance seen in 2019, according to a World Bank forecast. The world economy is likely to expand by 2.5% in 2020, up from 2.4% last year, the Bank's economists predict.
A wave of debt in emerging and developing nations has grown faster and larger than in any period of the last five decades and could end with another crisis, the World Bank warned on Thursday.
The Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region has entered a new phase of weak economic performance, but increased integration in international trade and global value chains could reinvigorate economic growth.
As global trade tensions persist, investments are put on hold and without that cash to boost economic growth, poverty could surge, the World Bank's chief economist warned Tuesday. Without growth “inevitably, people will struggle”, Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg said in an interview.
Total foreign debt held by developing nations jumped more than 5% to US$7.8 trillion, driven by a surge in Chinese debt, the World Bank said in a report on Wednesday.
A group of Argentina’s biggest bondholders will meet with the country’s treasury minister in New York this Monday to hear how Latin America’s third-largest economy plans to dig itself out of its latest debt crisis.