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World Bank Wins $100 Bln Replenishment of Fund for Poorest Countries

The World Bank made the announcement on Friday in Seoul at a pledging conference for the International Development Association, which provides grants and very low interest loans to 78 low-income countries. AFP
The World Bank made the announcement on Friday in Seoul at a pledging conference for the International Development Association, which provides grants and very low interest loans to 78 low-income countries. AFP
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World Bank Wins $100 Bln Replenishment of Fund for Poorest Countries

The World Bank made the announcement on Friday in Seoul at a pledging conference for the International Development Association, which provides grants and very low interest loans to 78 low-income countries. AFP
The World Bank made the announcement on Friday in Seoul at a pledging conference for the International Development Association, which provides grants and very low interest loans to 78 low-income countries. AFP

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 on Friday in Seoul at a pledging conference for the International Development Association, which provides grants and very low interest loans to 78 low-income countries.
The total exceeds the previous $93 billion IDA replenishment announced in December 2021.
Countries will contribute $23.7 billion directly to IDA, only marginally increased in dollar terms from the $23.5 billion pledged in 2021, 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, Reuters reported.
The two-day pledging conference fell short of the $120 billion goal African heads of state had called for, partly because the US dollar's strength - pushed up by Donald Trump's US 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 and Spain by 37% to 400 million euros. Spain's pledge was worth $423 million on Friday, $10 million less than the day it was announced in October.
US President Joe Biden pledged a $4 billion US contribution, up from $3.5 billion in the previous round.
DOMESTIC RESISTANCE
The World Bank did not immediately reveal the amounts of other pledges, but said that 17 donor countries had committed to raising their contributions by more than 25%, with 10 offering increases of 40% or more.
"While some donors made some very important increases, a lot of historically big IDA donors did not," said Clemence Landers, senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development, a Washington think tank. "This is a sign of the times: for a lot of governments, global poverty issues are often a tough sell domestically."
Still the pledges won some plaudits from non-profit groups, with ONE Campaign CEO Okonkwo Nwuneli calling it a "bold breakthrough" in leadership to aid some 40 African IDA recipients.
"ONE will be holding all donors to account, ensuring that these pledges are delivered in full, and we will be working closely with African governments and our civil society partners to ensure that the resources are maximized for impact," Nwuneli said.
World Bank President Ajay Banga said in a statement that the IDA will be able to stretch the new pledges further because of work done to optimize the development lender's balance sheet over the past two years, increasing its lending capacity by some $150 billion over 10 years.
The bank's ability to leverage contributions will transform "modest contributions into life-changing investments," Banga said in an open letter to shareholders and client countries.
About 35 countries have graduated from IDA to become donors, including China, South Korea, Chile, Jordan and Türkiye.
Banga said the resources will allow the bank to put job creation at the center of its work, even as it addresses climate change and other global crises.
"In this context, IDA is not just a financial instrument; it is a catalyst for job creation," Banga said. "It provides countries with the resources to build infrastructure, improve education and health systems and foster private sector growth."

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Leading Harvard Trade Economist Says Saudi Arabia Holds Key to Success in Fragmented Global Economy

Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).
Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).
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Leading Harvard Trade Economist Says Saudi Arabia Holds Key to Success in Fragmented Global Economy

Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).
Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).

Harvard University economics professor Pol Antràs said Saudi Arabia represents an exceptional model in the shifting global trade landscape, differing fundamentally from traditional emerging-market frameworks. He also stressed that globalization has not ended but has instead re-formed into what he describes as fragmented integration.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies, Antràs said Saudi Arabia’s Vision-driven structural reforms position the Kingdom to benefit from the ongoing phase of fragmented integration, adding that the country’s strategic focus on logistics transformation and artificial intelligence constitutes a key engine for sustainable growth that extends beyond the volatility of global crises.

Antràs, the Robert G. Ory Professor of Economics at Harvard University, is one of the leading contemporary theorists of international trade. His research, which reshaped understanding of global value chains, focuses on how firms organize cross-border production and how regulation and technological change influence global trade flows and corporate decision-making.

He said conventional classifications of economies often obscure important structural differences, noting that the term emerging markets groups together countries with widely divergent industrial bases. Economies that depend heavily on manufacturing exports rely critically on market access and trade integration and therefore face stronger competitive pressures from Chinese exports that are increasingly shifting toward alternative markets.

Saudi Arabia, by contrast, exports extensively while facing limited direct competition from China in its primary export commodity, a situation that creates a strategic opportunity. The current environment allows the Kingdom to obtain imports from China at lower cost and access a broader range of goods that previously flowed largely toward the United States market.

Addressing how emerging economies should respond to dumping pressures and rising competition, Antràs said countries should minimize protectionist tendencies and instead position themselves as committed participants in the multilateral trading system, allowing foreign producers to access domestic markets while encouraging domestic firms to expand internationally.

He noted that although Chinese dumping presents concerns for countries with manufacturing sectors that compete directly with Chinese production, the risk is lower for Saudi Arabia because it does not maintain a large manufacturing base that overlaps directly with Chinese exports. Lower-cost imports could benefit Saudi consumers, while targeted policy tools such as credit programs, subsidies, and support for firms seeking to redesign and upgrade business models represent more effective responses than broad protectionist measures.

Globalization has not ended

Antràs said globalization continues but through more complex structures, with trade agreements increasingly negotiated through diverse arrangements rather than relying primarily on multilateral negotiations. Trade deals will continue to be concluded, but they are likely to become more complex, with uncertainty remaining a defining feature of the global trading environment.

Interest rates and artificial intelligence

According to Antràs, high global interest rates, combined with the additional risk premiums faced by emerging markets, are constraining investment, particularly in sectors that require export financing, capital expenditure, and continuous quality upgrading.

However, he noted that elevated interest rates partly reflect expectations of stronger long-term growth driven by artificial intelligence and broader technological transformation.

He also said if those growth expectations materialize, productivity gains could enable small and medium-sized enterprises to forecast demand more accurately and identify previously untapped markets, partially offsetting the negative effects of higher borrowing costs.

Employment concerns and the role of government

The Harvard professor warned that labor markets face a dual challenge stemming from intensified Chinese export competition and accelerating job automation driven by artificial intelligence, developments that could lead to significant disruptions, particularly among younger workers. He said governments must adopt proactive strategies requiring substantial fiscal resources to mitigate near-term labor-market shocks.

According to Antràs, productivity growth remains the central condition for success: if new technologies deliver the anticipated productivity gains, governments will gain the fiscal space needed to compensate affected groups and retrain the workforce, achieving a balance between addressing short-term disruptions and investing in long-term strategic gains.

Business

Aljadaan: Emerging Markets Account for 70% of Global Growth

Al-Jadaan speaking to the attendees at the "AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies" (Asharq Al-Awsat
Al-Jadaan speaking to the attendees at the "AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies" (Asharq Al-Awsat
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Aljadaan: Emerging Markets Account for 70% of Global Growth

Al-Jadaan speaking to the attendees at the "AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies" (Asharq Al-Awsat
Al-Jadaan speaking to the attendees at the "AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies" (Asharq Al-Awsat

Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed Aljadaan stressed Sunday that the world economy is going through a “profound transition,” saying emerging markets and developing economies now account for nearly 60 percent of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in purchasing power terms and over 70 percent of global growth.

In his opening remarks at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies, organized by the Saudi Ministry of Finance and the IMF in AlUla, the minister said these economies have become an increasingly important driver of global growth with their share of global economy more than doubling since 2010.

“Today, the 10 emerging economies in the G20 alone account for more than half of the world growth. Yet, they face a more complex and fragmented environment, elevated debt levels, slower trade growth and increasing exposure to geopolitical shocks.”

“Unfortunately, more than half of low income countries are either in or at the risk of debt distress. At the same time global trade growth has slowed at around half of what it was pre the pandemic,” Aljadaan added.

The Finance Minister stressed that the Saudi experience over the past decade has reinforced three lessons that may be relevant to the discussions at the two-day conference, which brings together a select group of ministers and central bank governors, leaders of international organizations, leading investors and academics.

“First, macroeconomic stability is not the enemy of growth. It is actually the foundation,” he said.

“Structural reforms deliver results only when institutions deliver. So there is no point of reforming ... if the institutions are unable to deliver,” he stated.

Finally, he said that “international cooperation matters more, not less, in a fragmented world.”

Business

Georgieva from AlUla: Growth Still Lacks Pre-pandemic Levels

Kristalina Georgieva speaking to attendees at the second edition of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Kristalina Georgieva speaking to attendees at the second edition of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Georgieva from AlUla: Growth Still Lacks Pre-pandemic Levels

Kristalina Georgieva speaking to attendees at the second edition of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Kristalina Georgieva speaking to attendees at the second edition of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat)

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Sunday that world growth still lacks pre-pandemic levels, expressing concern as she expected more shocks amid high spending and rising debt levels in many countries.

Georgieva spoke at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies, organized by the Saudi Ministry of Finance and the IMF in AlUla.

The two-day conference brings together a select group of ministers and central bank governors, leaders of international organizations, leading investors and academics to deliberate on policies to global stability, prosperity, and multilateral collaboration.

Georgieva said that the conference was launched last year in recognition of the growing role of emerging market economies in a world of sweeping transformations.

“I came out of this gathering .... With a sense of hope for the pragmatic attitude and determination to pursue good policies and build strong institutions,” she said.

Georgieva stressed that “good policies pay off,” and said that growth rates across emerging economies reached four percent this year, exceeding by a large margin those of advanced economies that are around 1.5 percent.