By Stanley Ugagbe
Again, the World Bank has revealed that the ravaging pandemic is expected to throw more than 60 million people globally into extreme poverty. The body also announced emergency operations worth $160 billion in 100 developing countries to fight this deadly virus.
The Nigerian Canadian News gathered that of the 100 countries, home to 70 per cent of the world’s population, 39 are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Nearly one-third of the total projects are in fragile and conflict-affected situations, such as Afghanistan, Chad, Haiti, and Niger.
World Bank President David Malpass had during a conference call said “The pandemic and shutdown of advanced economies could push as many as 60 million people into extreme poverty erasing much of the recent progress made in poverty alleviation”
“The World Bank Group has moved quickly and decisively to establish emergency response operations in 100 countries, with mechanisms that allow other donors to rapidly expand the programmes,” he said.
The President continued that “To return to growth, our goal must be rapid, flexible responses to tackle the health emergency, provide cash and other expandable support to protect the poor, maintain the private sector, and strengthen economic resilience and recovery”.
“This represents a significant milestone in the World Bank Group’s effort to deploy USD160 billion over a 15-month period. So this is a milestone in the $160 billion that we have committed to”.
According to the Bank’s boss, the programmes are tailored to the countries to effectively respond to the health, economic and social shocks that the countries are facing.
Malpass said the programs will reinforce healthcare systems; and also help procure vital life-saving medical equipment and supplies. He added that these programs contain mechanisms that allow other donors to rapidly expand the program.
He said “We invite that. There can be co-financing, there can be additional donors parallel with these programs, so it is important that we note that the programs are expandable. And because of the breadth that means the interested donors and other multilateral banks can reach countries around the world”.
We gathered that the Bank Group’s support through grants, loans and equity investments will be supplemented by the suspension of bilateral debt service, as endorsed by the Bank’s governors. IDA-eligible countries that request forbearance on their official bilateral debt payments will have more financial resources to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and fund critical, lifesaving emergency responses.
Malpass said “The bilateral debt-service suspension being offered will free up crucial resources for IDA countries to fund emergency responses to COVID-19”.
“Nations should move quickly to substantially increase the transparency of all their governments’ financial commitments. This will increase the confidence in the investment climate and encourage more beneficial debt and investment in the future,” he added.
