WASHINGTON (Reuters) – World Bank President David Malpass said he hoped China would increase its donation to the International Development Association fund for the poorest countries.
Malpass told the Bretton Woods Project, a UK-based watchdog group, that he was reaching out to China, Russia, Turkey, Britain and other donor countries as the bank seeks to raise some $100 billion for the fund by the end of the year.
He said China’s economy had grown and he was making the case the Beijing could boost its previous, already generous donation to IDA, and Japan was also committed to a large contribution.
Finance officials of the Group of 20 major economies on Wednesday said they looked forward to an ambitious replenishment of the fund.
Malpass on Monday embraced the $100 billion target previously set by the African leaders, saying the funding was needed to address “tragic reversals” in development caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The multilateral development bank is forecasting global growth of 5.7% in 2021 and 4.4% in 2022, but Malpass said disparities between advanced economies and developing countries were worsening and had set back efforts to reduce extreme poverty by year, and in some cases decades.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Chris Reese and Alistair Bell)
