2023-10-11 09:35:10
Marrakech (Morocco) (AFP) – The President of the World Bank (WB) Ajay Banga pleaded Wednesday for the institution to become even “bigger” in the future in order to better respond to global challenges such as climate change, pandemics and the fight against poverty.
Published on: 11/10/2023 – 11:35 Modified on: 11/10/2023 – 11:33
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“We could reach some 150 billion in additional financing capacity during this decade”, a “substantial figure but which will not be sufficient for the kind of challenges the world is facing”, launched Ajay Banga on the occasion of the official opening of the general assemblies of the WB and the IMF in Marrakech.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates the needs necessary for the objective of carbon neutrality in 2050 at more than 2,000 billion dollars per year by 2030, while only 400 billion annually are forecast over the period. , according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The additional financing hoped for by Mr. Banga would therefore allow the WB to invest an additional 15 billion dollars per year.
Arriving at his post in June, he wants to pivot the institution to better deal with climate change or pandemics. He repeated on Wednesday his vision of the Bank’s mission for the future: “to eradicate poverty on a livable planet.”
Ajay Banga on Wednesday referred to the report by experts Larry Summers and NK Singh on behalf of the Indian presidency of the G20, which suggested a tripling of financing from multilateral banks by 2030.
“There is no doubt that we need a bigger bank,” he insisted.
“I will undoubtedly come back to our shareholders to seek to grow the Bank because I believe that is what we need for the decades to come,” he announced.
In the meantime, US President Joe Biden’s promise to provide an additional 25 billion to the WB has yet to materialize by obtaining the green light from Congress.
On Tuesday, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stressed that the amount could ultimately amount to $27 billion more.
Ajay Banga said he was “optimistic”: “I’m sure there will be debates and discussions, that’s the nature of our democracy, but I’m not at all worried.”
He also called for a “better” and more efficient WB, where the different entities could work in better synergy.
“It’s not easy. It’s part of profound cultural changes in an institution with a proud history and which has done incredible work over the past 78 years,” he admitted.
At the end of September, during a conference in Washington, the president of the WB considered that the institution was “dysfunctional” while paying tribute to the work carried out by the teams, served, according to him, by the very functioning of the WB.
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