(Washington) US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday hailed the progress made since October to reform the World Bank and called for further progress, as member countries must adopt the first concrete steps during the day.
She thus spoke of “ very significant achievements ” carried out since the launch in October of this reform of the World Bank under the impetus of certain member countries, in particular the United States. This should enable the institution, which emerged from the Bretton Woods conference of July 1944, to better meet the financing needs of developing countries.
“First, we have clarified the mission of the World Bank”, detailed Janet Yellen during a round table on the subject, organized Tuesday morning as part of the spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington.
Thus, “ the Bank’s mission now emphasizes the importance of inclusion, sustainability and resilience to global shocks in achieving its objectives […]. We have a Bank that works to end extreme poverty, boost shared prosperity and build resilience,” she said.
“Secondly, we have started to strengthen the operational model”, in particular through the “systematic” integration into the diagnoses carried out by the institution of regional and global difficulties, and not only related to the country itself, added the minister. of Economics and Finance by Joe Biden.
“And third, we are taking steps to increase the Bank’s financing capacity. […] Shareholders have agreed to undertake reforms that could add up to $50 billion in funding over the next 10 years,” the Treasury Secretary said again.
Janet Yellen, however, found it useful to “ push for additional progress ”, “ use the rest of the year to undertake additional reforms ” and “ use events to come to maintain momentum”, citing the New Deal Summit world financial institution, the G20, the upcoming World Bank and IMF meetings and COP28.
The World Bank will also change its president by June, after the resignation of David Malpass. Only one candidate is in the running: Ajay Banga, the American candidate, of Indian origin, who is, according to Ms. Yellen, “ the right leader to […] accelerate our work in order to make this institution evolve ”.
