The World Bank has voted $17 billion to tackle food insecurity, provide emergency assistance and bolster safety nets.
World Bank Group President David Malpass, who made this known at the Spring Meeting 2022 Media Roundtable in Washington DC, yesterday, said global trade is still facing quotas, high import and export tariffs, expensive food price subsidies and export bans on food products, warning “these should stop.”
The World Bank Chief said the international community needs to immediately step up emergency assistance for food insecurity and help bolster social safety nets, saying from the global bank’s standpoint, “we are providing roughly $17 billion per year to strengthen food security a big part of the global effort.”
Malpass said he was concerned about developing countries as “they’re facing sudden price increases for energy, fertiliser, and food, and the likelihood of interest rate increases’’, adding that these, plus the war in Ukraine and China’s COVID-related shutdowns, are pushing global growth rates even lower and poverty rates higher.
He said the bank has lowered its 2022 growth rate to 3.2 per cent from 4.1 per cent before. “People are facing reversals in development for education, health, and gender equality. They’re facing reduced commercial activity and trade. Also, the debt crises and currency depreciations have a burden that falls heavily on the poor,” he said.
For Ukraine, Malpass said: “We’ve mobilised nearly $1 billion in emergency financing, and we’ve announced another $1.5 billion to support essential government services. I made that announcement in Poland last week.
“Food crises are bad for everyone, but they’re devastating for the poorest and most vulnerable. There are two reasons. First, the world’s poorest countries tend to be food importing countries. Second, food accounts for at least half of total expenditures in household budgets in low-income countries, so it hits them hardest,” he added.
Malpass said the IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, World Trade Organisation Director-General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and UN World Food Programme Executive Director, David Beasley are also in support of boosting food security.
“We wanted to highlight the issue and help coordination. Countries must be taking action now to encourage the production of food, energy, and fertiliser. The production chain needs all three. It’s vital for countries, both advanced and developing, to reduce their trade barriers,” he said.
Malpass said COVID-19 response was still underway. “The World Bank Group expanded financing rapidly, reaching $157 billion in the 15 months ending June 2021,” saying vaccines were a big part of this effort.
“We expect to have committed $11 billion to purchase and deploy vaccines in our current fiscal year ending June 30, benefiting 81 countries.This has been a massive effort by our country teams around the world and has brought hundreds of millions of shots to arms,” he stated.
He said over the next few weeks, he would be discussing with the World Bank Board a new 15-month crisis response envelope of about $170 billion to cover this month to June 2023.
He said debt and inflation are two big problems facing global growth.
“Due to high debt and deficit levels, countries are under severe financial stress. Sixty per cent of low-income countries are already in debt distress or at high risk of it. I participated virtually in our April 13 conference on debt transparency and sustainability, and suggested steps to improve the implementation of the Common Framework.
He listed these to include establishing a timeline for forming creditors’ committees, suspension of debt service payments and penalty interest, expanding eligibility, simple rule so that it can be evaluated and enforced and engaging commercial creditors at the beginning of the process.
He said debt crisis was expected to continue to worsen in the year.
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