Washington DC, 18 April 2023 (TDI): United States Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, has expressed her satisfaction with the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG), which offered opportunities to coordinate with allies and partners on pressing global challenges.
For the record, the Spring Meetings of the IMF and WBG took place from April 10 to 16, 2023.
During her speech, she highlighted the opportunities for coordination with allies and partners on global challenges, including advancing global security, mitigating climate change and poverty, and promoting economic resilience.
Debt Overhang
US Treasury Secretary Yellen emphasized the issue of debt overhang as a significant economic headwind for many countries.
Moreover, she expressed her concern over Zambia’s suffering economy due to default and pointed out that more than half of all low-income countries are near or in debt distress.
Also, she highlighted that the impacts of debt crises have cascading effects on the global economy and urged all creditors, including China, to deliver on their commitments.
The Treasury Secretary acknowledged the need for improvement in the international debt restructuring process.
She welcomed the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable to discuss improvements to the Common Framework process for low-income countries and the debt treatment process more broadly.
Also Read: IMF, Pakistan in talks amid worsening economic crisis
Multilateral development bank evolution
In addition, Yellen stressed the importance of the World Bank’s evolution, which she called for six months ago. She expressed her delight at the progress made with a growing coalition of shareholders since her call to action last fall.
Furthermore, she stated that they are refreshing the World Bank’s mission, taking initial steps to improve its operational model, and responsibly stretching its balance sheet to deliver up to an additional $50 billion of lending over the next decade.
Likewise, she also noted that Ajay Banga, the US candidate for World Bank President, has the right leadership and management skills to lead the World Bank at a critical moment in its history.
Also Read: Pakistan, World Bank to enhance collaboration on development & climate response
In a nutshell, US Treasury Yellen assured the US commitment to advance global security, mitigate threats from climate change and poverty, and promote economic resilience.
