The World Bank will ease financing for countries hit by natural disasters, it said on Thursday, as the International Monetary Fund announced it had hit its target of making $100 billion in special drawing rights available for vulnerable nations.
The two announcements were made at a gathering in Paris of some 40 leaders, including about a dozen from Africa, China's prime minister and Brazil's president, that aims give impetus to a new global finance agenda.
In remarks to a panel on Thursday, new World Bank president Ajay Banga outlined a "toolkit", including offering a pause in debt repayments, giving countries flexibility to redirect funds for emergency response, providing new types of insurance to help development projects and helping governments build advance-emergency systems.
China - the world's largest bilateral creditor - has been pushing for lenders like the World Bank or the IMF to absorb some of the losses, which the institutions and rich countries oppose.U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen meets French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire during the New Global Financing Pact, in Paris, France June 22, 2023. Christophe Ena/Pool via REUTERS
The coronavirus pandemic pushed many poor countries into debt distress as they were expected to continue servicing their obligations in spite of the massive shock to their finances.
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