The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), have agreed to pull their respective resources together to help countries in addressing climate change, debts and digital transition.
In a joint statement, the IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva and his WBG counterpart, Ajay Banga, said they are committed to “enhancing our collaboration to deliver tangible benefits for people, businesses and institutions of our member countries,” adding that they will do so by drawing on their respective mandates and expertise to accomplish the goal.
While acknowledging that current debt levels require urgent attention, the IMF and World Bank chiefs said they would spare no efforts in their collaboration by building and leveraging on their respective areas of expertise to contain current rising debt levels.
In their words: ” We will enhance our joint work to help prevent further build-up of debt vulnerabilities, assisting countries to strengthen debt management and transparency and public finances, while improving the joint Low Income Country Debt Sustainability Framework to better account for current challenges.
“We will also deepen our support to creditors and debtors engaged in debt restructuring and will work further with our partners to improve restructuring processes, including under the Common Framework, building on the work we launched at the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable.
Georgieva and Banga fancied the ongoing digital transition as being at the forefront of development and providing a unique opportunity for countries to accelerate economic growth and connect citizens to services and jobs, but nevertheless expressed concern that the development, despite its obvious advantages, leaves nearly three billion “people offline.” They pointed out that the vast majority of those in this bracket “live in developing countries, and that the wide gaps in usage of digital products between and within countries remain a challenge.”
They however assured that the World Bank will work with governments in emerging and developing countries to address regulatory and infrastructure constraints to digital inclusion and transformation, so as to promote financial inclusion and low-cost payments systems, and as well expand digitalisation of government services and operations.
On its part, the IMF would focus on supporting digital transformation in the financial sector to promote wider use of new financial technologies, and at the same breath maintain the integrity and stability of the financial system.
“We will step up our joint work to help countries increase the effectiveness of revenue collection and expenditure systems in governments and reap the benefit of new digital technologies, while mitigating the risks, including on ways to improve cross-border payments, support implementation of the G20 Roadmap to enhance cross-border payments, and ensure that payment innovations spur growth, poverty reduction and job creation, they said.
The Bank and the Fund, said they recognised Climate change as a threat to global peace, security, economic stability, and development, saying both institutions would help member countries integrate their climate and development goals. As they put: “Given the critical nature of this work stream, we will put Bank-Fund collaboration in this area on a more structured and institutionalised footing.
“We are committed to enhancing our collaboration to deliver tangible benefits for people, businesses, and institutions of our member countries. The Bank and the Fund will work with shareholders and partners to mobilize the substantial resources needed to meet the complex challenges the world faces today,” Banga and Georgieva stated.
