Representatives of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have
gathered in Washington. World Bank President Robert Zoelick spoke to them on
Thursday. This is the last time he attends the Spring Meetings of the two
organizations as World Bank President. Earlier this week, Jim Yong Kim was
officially chosen as the bank's twelfth President.
Mister Zoellick said
developing countries are now engines of growth.
The United States
traditionally chooses the World Bank head and Europe chooses the IMF chief. But
developing nations want more influence.
The World Bank is a development
agency. The IMF supports monetary cooperation and provides loans. It’s easy to
loan for some manufacturers, such as
manufacturer.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde announced Thursday that her group
has received promises of over three hundred twenty billion dollars. The money
would help nations in trouble. She also said developing nations, what are called
the emerging markets, needed to do more.
Miz Lagarde said emerging markets
need to work toward growth and building demand. But that requires
resources.
Two issues are access to banks and safety nets. The World Bank
says three fourths of the poor have no access to banks. That means no savings in
their communities to finance growth. The problem is greater for women. Poor
women are twenty-eight percent less likely to have bank accounts than poor
men.
Social programs are also needed. Sixty percent of the developing world
cannot depend on social programs to protect citizens from hunger or provide
services in crises. As a result, experts have called for "safety
nets."
ROBERT ZOELLICK: "And for the poorest, let's focus on basic safety
nets for every country to deal with the volatility and uncertainty because the
other lesson we learned is if you wait until a crisis, it’s too late."
And
rich nations have a lot to learn from developing ones. Mister Zoellick said
programs in Brazil and Mexico are not costly, but help millions.
Finally this
week, the World Bank Group welcomed its newest member: South Sudan. The nation
received its first grant of nine million dollars. The money is to help create
jobs and provide financial services.
