Online Media Briefing Center (OMBC) news for accredited journalists
Highlights
The war in Ukraine continues to exacerbate the global food security and nutrition crisis, with high and volatile energy, food and fertilizer prices, restrictive trade policies, and supply chain disruptions. Despite the reprieve in global food prices and the resumption of grain exports from the Black Sea, food remains beyond reach for many due to high prices and weather shocks.
Domestic food price inflation remains high around the world. Information between May to Aug 2022 shows high inflation in almost all low-income and middle-income countries; 93.3 percent of low-income countries, 90.9 percent of lower-middle-income countries, and 93 percent of upper-middle-income countries have seen inflation levels above 5 percent, with many experiencing double-digit inflation.
The Government of Ukraine, the European Commission, and the World Bank, in cooperation with partners, estimate that the current cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine amounts to $349 billion (€349 Billion). This figure is expected to grow in the coming months as the war continues.
This is a 19% increase from the $26.6 billion all-time high in financing reached in the previous fiscal year. The Bank Group continues to be the largest multilateral financier of climate action in developing countries.
The $93 billion IDA20 package will help low-income countries rebuild their economies in the face of overlapping crises—climate change, COVID-19, conflict, inflation, rising debt, and food insecurity—which are hitting the poorest people disproportionately harder.
The new financial intermediary fund (FIF) for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR) will provide a dedicated stream of additional, long-term financing to strengthen PPR capabilities in low- and middle-income countries and address critical gaps through investments and technical support at the national, regional, and global levels.
The 2022 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) will take place in person from Monday, October 10, through Sunday, October 16 in the IMF and World Bank Group headquarters, in Washington DC. Registration will open in mid-August.
Seventy-five years ago today, the newly established International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), now known as the World Bank, made its first and only loan to Luxembourg.
