Online Media Briefing Center (OMBC) news for accredited journalists
Highlights
Over the coming three years, the World Bank Group intends to provide more than US$6 billion of support to Egypt, including US$3 billion for financial support to Government’s programs and US$3 billion for the private sector (including mobilization) – subject to Board approval.
The number of children who died before their fifth birthday has reached a historic low, dropping to 4.9 million in 2022, according to the latest estimates released today by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME).
Domestic food price inflation remains high. Inflation higher than 5% is experienced in 60% of low-income countries (an increase of 2.1 percentage points since the last update on February 15, 2024), 66% of lower-middle-income countries (5.7 percentage points lower), 50% percent of upper-middle-income countries (2.0 percentage points higher), and 36.4% of high-income countries (9.1 percentage points lower).
The World Bank Group today announced a major overhaul to its guarantee business that will deliver simplicity, improved access, and faster execution through a new, convenient marketplace. The new reforms are critical to achieving the goal of tripling annual guarantee issuance to $20 billion by 2030.
In low-income countries, only one in four people are able to access the internet. The World Bank Group’s new “Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023” provides a sweeping analysis of countries’ production and use of digital technologies—from digital jobs, digital services exports, and app development, to internet use, affordability, quality, and more.
The World Bank Treasury announced a partnership with Girls Who Invest, a non-profit organization dedicated to transforming the investment management industry by advancing women investors, change-makers, and leaders to improve gender representation in the World Bank’s investment management teams.
The World Bank Group announced a $30 million grant to help ensure the continuity of crucial education for children. A sharp decline in economic activity, including trade, coupled with a lack of clearance revenues since October 2023, has worsened an already acute fiscal crisis, thus severely impacting the delivery of public services.
The World Bank today approved a suite of groundbreaking tools to help developing countries better respond to crises and strengthen preparedness for future shocks. These new tools will further expand the Crisis Preparedness and Response Toolkit unveiled recently, empowering nations in a world where crises have become the “new normal,” driving impactful development, and ultimately contributing to creating a world free of poverty on a livable planet.