Page 17 - World Bank

World dangerously close to recession, warns World Bank President

World Bank President David Malpass on Thursday warned that the global economy is "dangerously close" to a recession and called for targeted support for the poor. "The growth rate, we've lowered our 2023 growth forecast from 3 per cent to 1.9 per cent for global growth. That's dangerously close to a world recession, and that's - a world recession could happen under certain circumstances," Malpass told reporters on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund here. All of the problems that people have taken note of, the inflation problem, the interest rate rises, and the cutoff of capital flows to the developing world hits the poor hard, he said, adding that's a huge challenge for the bank. "We are focused on helping people get ahead in developing countries, and right now there have been reversals. The countries, of course, are all different. So, we'll have a discussion today of certain countries. So, it's not monolithic at all," Malpass ..

Finance Minister Sitharaman to host breakfast for G20 counterparts

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will here on Thursday host a breakfast for her counterparts from G-20 countries on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Founded in 1999, G-20 is a grouping of 19 major world economies along with the European Union. India will assume the annual presidency of G-20 countries in December this year. Indonesia is currently heading the G-20 presidency. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen along with finance ministers of other G-20 countries have confirmed to attend the breakfast meeting being hosted by Sitharaman at the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund here. Sitharaman with this meeting intends to set the pace and scope for India's presidency for the next year and also establish a personal relationship with all of her counterparts from the G-20 countries. At a time when the world is facing recession and there is large-scale inflation, the role that G-20 has in steering the global

Budget focus is to maintain growth, tame inflation: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

The minister is in Washington DC to the annual meetings of World Bank and International Monetary Fund, as well as the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meetings

FM Sitharaman on US visit from today; to attend IMF-WB annual meetings

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will arrive here on Tuesday to attend an important meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The finance minister during her visit will also hold a bilateral meeting with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Sitharaman upon her arrival will participate in a fireside chat on "India's Economic Prospects and Role in the World Economy" at the prestigious Brookings Institute think-tank and soon after hold a bilateral meeting with Yellen at the Department of Treasury. At an official dinner hosted by India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu, nearly 30 senior representatives of the US Administration, World Bank, IMF, and CEOs of the private sector are expected to participate. In addition to her one-on-one meeting with the IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank President David Malpass, the finance minister is scheduled to have bilateral meetings with countries like Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, ..

OPEC+ production cut ahead of winter puts India on a slippery slope

A higher than expected production cut by the group will add to the strain on government finances

World Bank slashes India's economic growth forecast to 6.5% for FY23

Cites Ukraine war, global policy tightening

56 mn Indians may have turned poor in 2020 due to pandemic: World Bank

"The global goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030 is likely to be missed: by then, about 600 million people will remain in abject poverty. A major course correction is needed," Indermit Gill said.

World Bank downgrades India's economic growth forecast to 6.5% for FY23

The World Bank on Thursday projected a growth rate of 6.5 per cent for the Indian economy for the fiscal year 2022-23, a drop of one per cent from its previous June 2022 projections, citing deteriorating international environment. In its latest South Asia Economic Focus released ahead of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the Bank, however, noted that India is recovering stronger than the rest of the world. The Indian economy grew by 8.7 per cent in the previous year. "The Indian economy has done well compared to the other countries in South Asia, with relatively strong growth performance... bounced back from the sharp contraction during the first phase of COVID," Hans Timmer, World Bank Chief Economist for South Asia, told PTI in an interview. India, he said, has done relatively well with the advantage that it doesn't have a large external debt, there are no problems coming from that side, and that there is prudent monetary policy, he ...

India's support to poor during Covid remarkable, says World Bank president

India's support to the poor and needy during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis is remarkable, and other nations should adopt the Indian move of targeted cash transfer instead of broad subsidies, World Bank President David Malpass said on Wednesday. COVID-19 marked the end of a phase of global progress in poverty reduction. During the three decades that preceded its arrival, more than 1 billion people escaped extreme poverty. The incomes of the poorest nations gained ground, Malpass said in the forward to a study -- Poverty and Shared Prosperity Report -- released by the World Bank. The poorest people bore the steepest costs of the pandemic -- income losses averaged four per cent for the poorest 40 per cent, double the losses of the wealthiest 20 per cent of the income distribution. Global inequality rose, as a result, for the first time in decades, as per the report. Malpass in the forward to the report said the rise in poverty in poorer countries reflects economies that are more informa

FM to attend World Bank-IMF annual meeting, drive investor outreach

May hold bilateral meetings with counterparts of other nations. There could also be a G-20 meeting on the sidelines, with focus on India's upcoming presidency of the multi-nation grouping

Ukraine's war-torn economy will sink 35% in 2022, says World Bank

Devastated by Russia's invasion eight months ago, the Ukrainian economy will plunge 35 per cent this year, the World Bank forecast on Tuesday. The war has destroyed factories and farmland and displaced millions of Ukrainians. The World Bank, a 189-country anti-poverty agency, estimates that rebuilding the country will cost at least USD 349 billion, 1.5 times the size of Ukraine's prewar economy. Ukraine continues to need enormous financial support as the war needlessly rages on as well as for recovery and reconstruction projects,'' said Anna Bjerde, World Bank vice president for Europe and Central Asia. Still, the bank's assessment for Ukraine's economy marks an upgrade from the 45.1 per cent freefall it forecast in June. And it expects that the Ukrainian economy will return to growth in 2023, expanding 3.3 per cent though the outlook is highly uncertain and will depend on the course of the war. Meanwhile, the Russian economy, hammered by Western sanctions, is expected to shrink

World Bank President Malpass warns of stagflation, recession in Europe

In a speech at Stanford University, Malpass said there was an increased likelihood of recession in Europe, while China's growth was slowing sharply and U.S. economic output had contracted

China to grow slower than rest of Asia for the first time since 1990

According to World Bank's forecast, this is primarily due to Xi Jinping's zero-Covid policy and the crisis in the country's property sector

World Bank downgrades growth for East Asia and Pacific to 3.2% in 2022

The World Bank has downgraded growth for developing East Asia and Pacific to 3.2 per cent in 2022

NITI Aayog-led $1 billion fund for two-, three-wheeler EV financing soon

The fund will be used to provide guarantees against defaults on loans taken to buy electric two-, three-wheelers

World Bank pledges $2 billion for flood-ravaged Pakistan, says report

The $2 billion figure includes that amount. Raiser said the bank is working with provincial authorities to begin as quickly as possible repairing infrastructure and housing

World Bank pledges $2 bn in aid to flood-hit Pakistan for reconstruction

The World bank has said that it will provide USD 2 billion in aid to Pakistan for reconstruction and rehabilitation that includes food, shelter and other urgent needs of the victims of the recent devastating floods. The announcement was made by the World Bank's new vice president for the South Asia region, Martin Raiser, on Saturday in a statement issued at the end of his Pakistan tour. As an immediate response, we are repurposing funds from existing World Bank-financed projects to support urgent needs in health, food, shelter, rehabilitation, and cash transfers, the statement said. The World Bank had earlier agreed to provide USD 850 million for flood relief in a meeting with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. The amount has now been increased to USD 2 billion. As per the World Bank resident mission in Islamabad, the current portfolio has 54 projects and a total commitment of USD 13.1 billion, the Dawn newspaper ...

World Bank president Malpass says won't resign over climate change remark

World Bank President David Malpass said Friday he won't resign after coming under criticism for his remarks earlier this week regarding climate change. At an event sponsored by The New York Times on Tuesday, Malpass wouldn't answer directly when asked whether the burning of fossil fuels has contributed to global warming. Instead, he said, "I am not a scientist." In an interview with Politico Friday, Malpass said he wouldn't resign, and that he hasn't been asked to do so by any of the bank's member governments. He acknowledged he should have done a better job responding to questions on Tuesday, including from former Vice President Al Gore, who asked if he was a "climate denier." "When asked, are you a climate denier?' I should have said no," he said. But he said he did not plan to resign. Malpass also said the World Bank is taking a forceful leadership position on climate issues. Malpass was nominated to the position by former President Donald Trump in 2019, under the longstanding

Gujarat gets over Rs 2.8K-crore loan from World Bank for health care

The World Bank on Thursday said it has approved a USD 350 million (over Rs 2,832 crore) loan to Gujarat for spending towards public healthcare services, focussed specially on adolescent girls and disease surveillance. The World Bank's Executive Board of Directors approved the USD 350 million loan to the state, the multilateral funding agency said. The funding will come from World Bank arm International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), carrying a maturity of 18 years including a grace period of 5.5 years. The loan will be utilised through the state government's Systems Reform Endeavours For Transformed Health Achievement In Gujarat (SRESTHA-G) Programme. It will enable more people access a wider range of high-quality health services, the World Bank said. Gujarat currently delivers seven health services to its citizens, including reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, communicable and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The World Bank funding will

India to push big for multilateral reforms of WTO, IMF as G20 Chair

Focus will also be on climate justice, green financing