Chair,
Excellencies,
Let me begin by acknowledging the inspired leadership of Ajay and Kristalina, and thanking them for their support at the UN High-Level Week.
This week, our global economy has been diagnosed as suffering from low growth, and high debt.
This toxic combination further exacerbates a sustainable development crisis for millions of people across the world.
With only 17 per cent of SDG targets on track, hunger is rising, global temperatures are soaring, conflicts are spreading, and the fight for gender equality is floundering.
Financing challenges are at the heart of this crisis.
Financing gaps are growing.
Debt service is crowding out investments.
And economies are repeatedly rocked by external shocks that our financial system cannot contain.
Last month, against geopolitical tensions, Heads of States from the Global North and South agreed a Pact for the Future.
The Pact lays the foundations for a future-ready world.
It commits to deepen multilateralism to rescue the SDGs;
To guide us through a new era of technology;
to renew our approach to restoring and keeping peace;
and to accelerate reform of the international financial architecture to reflect today’s world and meet today’s challenges.
Here, the Pact urges specific actions:
To raise the voice and representation of developing countries…
To scale up development finance…
To promote sustainable borrowing, and resolve debt crises as and before they occur…
And to strengthen the global safety net.Ìý
Agreements reached at the 51³Ô¹Ï cannot deliver change overnight. But they provide a powerful political signal for action in other fora – including this one.
Over the last two weeks, we have seen important steps forward.
The World Bank’s reduction of its equity to loan ratio frees up an additional $30 billion in lending.
And the IMF’s overhaul of its surcharge policy will lessen the penalty borne by countries most dependent on support.
We must now build on these steps, with urgency, to meet the needs and expectations of Member States and their people.
This brings me to one commitment that we must deliver this year.
IDA is the largest and most powerful instrument of financial assistance to the world's poorest and most vulnerable countries.
ÌýThat’s why the Pact for the Future urges Member States to deliver a robust 21st replenishment, to enable IDA to continue its vital work.
The Secretary-General and I wholeheartedly endorse this.
Another commitment is to seize the opportunity approved by the Fund to rechannel SDRs to acquire hybrid capital in our multilateral development banks. Champions of this initiative believe we can get this done by next month’s G20 summit. ÌýÌý
I look forward to working with the Bank and Fund to deliver other commitments in the Pact: from reviewing the sovereign debt architecture, to improving access to concessional finance.
With next year’s Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, we have a once-in-a-decade opportunity to transform financing for sustainable development to deliver the SDGs.
To do this for a future ready World Bank, we must work better together at the country level surging combined expertise and resources in support of our commitments to countries and their people.
Let’s work together to deliver this.
Thank you.
Ìý