Donor countries have pledged a record $100 billion three-year replenishment of the World Bank's fund for the poorest nations, providing a vital lifeline for their struggles against crushing debts, climate disasters, inflation and conflict.
Donor countries have pledged a record $100 billion three-year replenishment of the World Bank's fund for the poorest nations, providing a vital lifeline for their struggles against crushing debts, climate disasters, inflation and conflict.
The World Bank made the announcement early on Friday in Seoul at a pledging conference for the International Development Association, which provides grants and very low interest loans to some 78 low-income countries.
The total exceeds the previous $93 billion IDA replenishment announced in December 2021. Countries will contribute about $24 billion directly to IDA, but the fund will issue bonds and employ other financial leverage to stretch that to the targeted $100 billion in grants and loans through mid 2028.
But the two-day pledging conference fell short of the $120 billion goal that some developing countries had called for, partly because the dollar's strength .DXY -- pushed up by Donald Trump's U.S. presidential election victory -- diminished the dollar value of significant increases in foreign currency contributions by several countries.
At a G20 leaders' summit in Brazil last month, Norway increased its pledge by 50% from 2021 to 5.024 billion krone. That's $455 million at current exchange rates, but at the start of 2024, it would have been worth $496 million.
South Korea boosted its pledge by 45% to 846 billion won, ($597 million), Britain by 40% to 1.8 billion pounds, while Spain boosted its contribution to 400 million euros, a pledge worth $423 million -- $10 million less than the day it was announced in October.
U.S. President Joe Biden pledged a $4 billion U.S. contribution, up from $3.5 billion in the previous round.
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Syria has secured a $50 million financing package from the World Bank to support transport infrastructure projects as the country advances its economic recovery efforts, Syrian media reported on Sunday.
Kazakhstan’s economy is set to slow in the coming years as external conditions deteriorate and geopolitical risks intensify, according to the latest forecast by the World Bank.
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The World Bank has approved $700 million in new financing to support Pakistan’s efforts to stabilise its economy and strengthen public service delivery, marking a significant boost to the country’s reform agenda.
The Kremlin is utilising the recent United States and Israeli military strikes on Iran to validate its ongoing war in Ukraine. Russian officials are pointing to the escalation in the Middle East as evidence that Western nations do not adhere to international rules.
Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant Saudi Aramco closed its Ras Tanura refinery on Monday following an Iranian drone strike, an industry source told Reuters as Tehran retaliated across the Gulf after a U.S.-Israeli attack on Iranian targets over the weekend.
The Middle East crisis intensifies after the deadly attack on the compound of the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei on Saturday that killed him, other family members and senior figures. Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on U.S. targets in the region.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. military has enough stockpiled weapons to fight wars "forever"; in a social media post late on Monday. The remarks came hours before conflict in Iran and the Middle East entered its fourth day.
Türkiye raised its security level for Turkish-flagged vessels in the Strait of Hormuz to Level 3 on Sunday (2 March). The development follows Iranian restrictions on shipping after U.S. and Israeli strikes and confirmation of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s death.
Strikes across the Middle East are intensifying, fuelling travel disruption, driving up global energy prices and forcing diplomatic missions to shut their doors.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said the United States has a “virtually unlimited supply” of munitions and is capable of sustaining military action indefinitely, as the conflict with Iran entered its fourth day.
The United Nations has called for an investigation into a deadly attack on a girls’ primary school in Iran, which Iranian officials say has killed more than 100 children. The U.S. has said its forces “would not” deliberately target a school.
U.S. first lady, Melania Trump chaired a UN Security Council meeting on children and education in conflict on Monday (2 March), a move criticised by Iran as hypocritical following U.S. and Israeli strikes that triggered a UN warning about risks to children.
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