At a conference of G20 finance ministers in India, Ajay Banga, the new head of the World Bank, cautioned that rising disparities between rich and poor nations could worsen poverty in the developing world. Many nations have not fully recovered from the global fuel and commodity price spikes caused by the coronavirus outbreak and the consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, some of the poorest nations are being hit the worst by climate change. The president expressed concern that a lack of progress could lead to a gap in the global economy, which would have a negative impact on the world’s poor.
Banga addressed the two-day gathering of finance ministers and central bank chiefs in Gandhinagar, Gujarat state, that the issue that keeps him awake at night is the distrust that is quietly driving the Global North and South apart at a time when they ought to be together. The dissatisfaction felt by the Global South is understandable. Indian-born Banga, an American citizen who was nominated for the bank position by United States President Joe Biden and began working there last month, stated that these people are bearing a disproportionate share of the burden of their success.
Leaders should steer the global economy towards sustainable growth.
Despite being in a position of durability, they are frightened that the resources given to them will be redirected to the reconstruction of Ukraine; they believe that energy rules are not followed consistently, which limits their ambition; and they fear that another generation will be held back by poverty. The World Bank has stated that it is attempting to improve its financial capability through various means, such as raising hybrid capital from shareholders in order to stimulate growth and employment opportunities. However, the growth cannot come at the expense of the environment in the long run.
According to Banga, the essential truth is that they cannot survive another period of emission-intensive growth. Nirmala Sitharaman, the finance minister of India, the meeting’s chair and host, set the tone on Monday by reminding leaders of their duty to steer the global financial system towards robust, sustainable, balanced, and equitable growth. The United States estimates that $200 billion might be made available over the next decade if multilateral lenders like the World Bank and other regional institutions were reformed.
Over 50% of all low-income countries are close to or in debt crisis.
Deals to restructure the debt of countries with low incomes have been a primary priority of the Group of 20, which comprises the world’s 20 largest economies; yet, officials believe there has been very little progress. According to officials, China, which has the second-biggest economy in the world and is a significant lender to several distressed, low-income nations in Asia and Africa, has so far opposed any attempt to standardise the process of re-organising debt in a manner that would apply to all of these countries.
More so, Janet Yellen, the US Treasury Secretary, said over fifty percent of all low-income countries are close to or in debt crisis, which is double the amount in 2015. On Sunday, Yellen expressed concern that it had taken so long to reach an agreement on the debt of Zambia and expressed optimism that debt solutions for Ghana and Sri Lanka might be “finalised quickly.” Also, on Tuesday, the finance ministers of regional counterparts and neighbours India and China met behind closed doors.
They hope to reform multilateral development banks and cryptocurrency.
In addition to discussing how to finance better efforts to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change, the G20 has also discussed reforming multilateral development banks and regulating cryptocurrencies. The first step towards an equal distribution of tax revenues from multinational corporations, on which 138 countries finally agreed past week, will be implemented. With the current system in place, multinational corporations, and notably technology companies, can readily relocate earnings to countries with low tax rates, even if they only conduct a fraction of their activities there.
Related Link
WB: Website
Snopes.com
