Domestic food price inflation remains high around the world. Information from the latest month between January 2023 and April 2023 for which food price inflation data are available shows high inflation in almost all low- and middle-income countries, with inflation levels greater than 5% in 64.7% of low-income countries, 83.7% of lower-middle-income countries, and 89% of upper-middle-income countries and many experiencing double-digit inflation.

Populations across the globe are aging at an unprecedented pace, making many countries increasingly reliant on migration to realize their long-term growth potential, according to a new report from the World Bank. The World Development Report 2023: Migrants, Refugees, and Societies, identifies this trend as a unique opportunity to make migration work better for economies and people.

The World Bank today released its 2023 Logistics Performance Index report, a measure of countries’ ability to move goods across borders with speed and reliability. The seventh edition of Connecting to Compete, the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) report comes after three years of unprecedented supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, when delivery times soared. The LPI, which covers 139 countries, measures the ease of establishing reliable supply chain connections and the structural factors that make it possible, such as the quality of logistics services, tradeand transport-related infrastructure, and border controls.

Global commodity prices are expected to decline this year at the fastest clip since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, clouding the growth prospects of almost two-thirds of developing economies that depend on commodity exports, according to the World Bank’s latest Commodity Markets Outlook report.

Thank you for all for joining us this morning. Today’s subject, debt transparency and sustainability, is one that I have been deeply engaged in – dating back to my work at the US Treasury in the 1980s for Secretaries Baker and Brady.  In the 1970s, Latin oil producers had borrowed heavily in dollars from foreign banks who lent way too much when the dollar was weak, oil prices were high, and bank loans were readily available. Then circumstances changed. Interest rates rose and oil prices fell, triggering the Latin debt crisis.

It's already been a busy week. The Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and IMF have started, and people are convening at a time of crises. We are facing COVID-19, inflation, and the war in Ukraine.  

Thank you, Secretary Yellen, for convening us, your introduction, and leading on this effort. Since our shareholders called for an Evolution of the World Bank Group, I am very encouraged by the progress we have achieved so far. I want to thank you – Ministers and Executive Directors – for all the constructive discussions and your active engagement in this process; with me, management, and the World Bank Group teams during the recent months. The Evolution has been guided by the principles of serving all clients, achieving good development outcomes, preserving financial sustainability, and conducting a transparent and inclusive process.