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- Heads of international development institutions held a closed-door session with German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently to discuss the uneven global economic recovery
- The issues cropped up prominently at the meeting included access to vaccines, and strategies to drive a recovery from the Covid-19 crisis.
Heads of international development institutions held a closed-door session with German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently to discuss the uneven global economic recovery. The issues cropped up prominently at the meeting included access to vaccines, and strategies to drive a recovery from the Covid-19 crisis.
The meeting was attended by heads of the African Development Bank, World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The German leader said that the G7, IMF and World Bank should continue to take measures to assist lower- and middle-income countries. She mentioned the IMF Special Drawing Rights and the importance of channeling them in a way that benefits the world’s poorest countries.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that the composition of the 6% growth is changing, with advanced economies broadly accelerating growth, whereas most emerging markets and developing economies are falling further behind. This is a dangerous divergence. The consequences of the disparity include continuing supply chain disruptions and the risk of giving up hard-won gains in development,
Addressing Africa’s economic prospects, African Development Bank President Akinwumi A. Adesina said the continent’s economies were forecast to grow by 3.4%. He said the IMF special drawing rights were invaluable in facing down economic headwinds. The recent IMF release of US$650 billion in SDRs, with US$27 billion to Africa, would go a long way in helping to boost reserves for developing countries, he said. He added that if the developed countries reallocate US$100 billion of SDRs to Africa, as agreed at the Paris leaders meeting and by the G7, that will further support faster economic recovery in Africa.
ILO Director General Guy Ryder said the impact of the pandemic on labour markets was four times greater than the 2008-2009 financial crises.
Merkel was joined by the heads of the African Development Bank, World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The German leader said that the G7, IMF and World Bank continued to take measures to assist lower- and middle-income countries. She referred to the IMF Special Drawing Rights and the importance of channeling them for the benefits of the world’s poorest countries.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that the composition of the 6% is changing, with advanced economies broadly accelerating growth. The most emerging markets and developing economies are falling further behind, she added. Continuing supply chain disruptions and the risk of giving up hard-won gains in development, would fuel unrest and instability, she remarked. Vaccines remain the number one priority today, she said and that was endorsed by World Bank President David Malpass. He said progress had been made under the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) initiative of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. But he insisted that advanced economies still need to make doses available to the rest of the world.
Addressing Africa’s economic prospects, African Development Bank President Akinwumi A. Adesina said the continent’s economies were estimated to grow by 3.4% and added that the IMF special drawing rights were invaluable in facing down economic headwinds.
