The World Bank seeks $ 100 billion to face tragic setbacks caused by the pandemic

The World Bank seeks $ 100 billion to face tragic setbacks caused by the pandemic

David Malpass said that the multilateral development bank forecasts global growth of 5.7% in 2021 and 4.4% in 2022, but said that worsening disparities between advanced economies and developing countries have pushed back growth rates. efforts to reduce extreme poverty in years, and in some cases decades.

“Incoming data points to a slowdown in the momentum of global activity, amid persistent supply chain bottlenecks and COVID-19 spikes,” Malpass said.

“The outlook is challenging for much of the developing world, with lagging vaccination rates on the rise, inflation, limited political support, very few jobs and shortages that extend to food, water and electricity,” he added.

Malpass said inequality was rising dramatically, as per capita income in advanced economies is expected to grow by almost 5% in 2021, but only 0.5% in low-income countries.

He stated that advanced economies were already reaching pre-pandemic levels of economic growth, but production in developing countries would be almost 4% below pre-pandemic projections next year.

“We are witnessing what I call tragic setbacks in development in many dimensions,” he said. “Progress in reducing extreme poverty has gone back years, for some a decade.”

To address growing disparities, the World Bank is trying to raise $ 100 billion in donations from advanced economies, he said, endorsing a recommendation made earlier this year by African finance ministers.

Malpass also called for efforts to address unsustainable debt levels in many developing countries, noting that the burden on low-income nations increased 12% to a record $ 860 billion in 2020.

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