WASHINGTON, October 11 : Reuters : The World Bank hopes to raise $100 billion in donations to the International Development Association fund for poorer countries to address tragic reversals in development caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The multilateral development bank is forecasting global growth of 5.7% in 2021 and 4.4% in 2022, but Malpass said disparities between advanced economies and developing countries were worsening and had set back efforts to reduce extreme poverty by year, and in some cases decades.
Incoming high frequency data point to a slowing momentum in global activity, amid persistent supply chain bottlenecks and COVID - 19 surges, Malpass said. The outlook is challenging for much of the developing world, with lagging vaccination rates rising, inflation, limited policy support, too few jobs and shortages that extend to food, water and electricity. Malpass says inequality is increasing as in developed economies, with per capita income expected to grow nearly 5% in 2021, but just 0.5% in low-income countries.
He said developing economies were already hitting pre-pandemic levels of economic growth, but output in advanced countries would be nearly 4% below the same prediction for next year.
We're seeing what I call dramatic reversals in development across many dimensions, he said. Progress in reducing extreme poverty has been set back by years for some by a decade. To address the widening disparities, the World Bank is seeking to raise $100 billion in donations from African economies to replenish the IDA fund, he said, embracing a recommendation made earlier this year by advanced finance ministers.
Malpass also called for efforts to address the unsustainable debt levels of many developing countries, noting that the debt burden of low-income nations rose in 2020 to a record $860 Billion.