Publication: Conversation with the Lowy Institute
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2021-04-29
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2021-05-06
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World Bank Group President David spoke about the World Bank's response for Coronavirus (COVID-19) was to make health programs available in a lot of countries. The Bank wanted to get as many people vaccinated as possible in countries around the world. The Bank is looking at how to help India now. India has massive needs way beyond the potential of the World Bank alone. World Bank commitments in calendar year 2020 were up by sixty-five percent from calendar year 2019. The World Bank Group has a unique ability to raise funding through the global bond markets, and in that way the donor countries put money in and then it's leveraged through that process. Debt relief, as described by the G20 as a Framework, involves burden sharing among the various official bilateral creditors and commercial creditors. The Debt Service Suspension Initiative that was done in 2020 saved five billion dollars for debtor countries. The Bank is working on climate issues by identifying priorities, working with countries on things where the Bank can add expertise. The OECD has an anti-corruption standard, and it would be good if more countries joined that standard. He mentioned the need to invest in both physical infrastructure and human capital. Human capital is one of the most valuable investments that countries make, and that people make in their own lives. He spoke about the unrest in Myanmar and the Bank has put a hold on disbursements there.
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“Malpass, David. 2021. Conversation with the Lowy Institute. Podcast with Alexandre Dayant on April 29, 2021;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35548 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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