Online Media Briefing Center (OMBC) news for accredited journalists
Highlights
The February 6 earthquakes that hit Türkiye and Syria caused an estimated $5.1 billion in direct physical damages in Syria, according to a World Bank Global Rapid Assessment report released today. The current value of the damaged and destroyed capital stock is estimated at about 10% of GDP. The widespread damages impacted 4 governorates, where around 10 million of Syria’s population resides.
The Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank Group met today under the Chairship of its Dean, Mr. Koen Davidse, to discuss the selection process for the next President of the World Bank Group, following the announcement by Mr. David Malpass on February 15, 2023 that he will be stepping down from his position by June 30, 2023.
Globally, poverty and food insecurity are both on the rise after decades of development gains. Supply chain disruptions, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, financial tightening through rising interest rates and the war in Ukraine have caused an unprecedented shock to the global food system, with the most vulnerable hit the hardest. Food inflation remains high in the world, with dozens of countries experiencing double digit inflation. According to WFP, 349 million people across 79 countries are acutely food insecure. The prevalence of undernourishment is also on the rise, following three years of deterioration. This situation is expected to worsen, with global food supplies projected to drop to a three-year low in 2022/2023.
Thank you to the African Union for hosting such a timely event and to President Macky Sall for the invitation to join. My remarks are mostly devoted to infrastructure but let me recognize upfront the multiple challenges you are facing with high food and fertilizer prices, with growing insecurity in the Sahel and with conflicts spilling across borders, and the devastating impacts of climate change.
The World Bank announced today a new $50 million project to repair and restore Ukraine’s transport network to support immediate humanitarian relief and recovery, and increase capacity of import and export corridors. The grant financing for this project is provided by the Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform Trust Fund (URTF), with additional funding of up to $535 million envisaged to follow shortly.
Global growth is slowing sharply in the face of elevated inflation, higher interest rates, reduced investment, and disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report.
Domestic food price inflation remains high around the world. Information between September to December 2022 shows high inflation in almost all low-income and middle-income countries; 94.1% of low-income countries, 92.9% of lower-middle-income countries, and 89% of upper-middle-income countries have seen inflation levels above 5%, with many experiencing double-digit inflation. The share of high-income countries with high food price inflation has risen to 87.3%. The countries affected most are in Africa, North America, Latin America, South Asia, Europe, and Central Asia.
The poorest countries eligible to borrow from the World Bank’s IDA now spend over a tenth of their export revenues to service their long-term public and publicly guaranteed external debt—the highest proportion since 2000.
