Modi Demands Reform Of The World Bank At The G20 Finance Summit

While G20 finance ministers and central bank leaders convened on Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi added his voice to demands for reform of international lenders like the World Bank.

The Covid pandemic’s ongoing negative impacts and the conflict in the Ukraine were the main topics of discussion in Bangalore, along with debt relief for less developed countries who are suffering from rising food and gasoline costs.

The confidence in global financial institutions has declined. This is partially due to how slowly they have been reforming themselves, Modi remarked through video connection as the two-day conference got underway.

“To address issues like climate change and high debt levels, we must jointly collaborate to enhance multilateral development banks.”

The comments reflected other people’s pleas for the World Bank to increase lending and broaden its mandate beyond eradicating poverty, albeit this has generated fears that it may lose its excellent credit rating.

In order to maintain progress on these goals, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday in Bangalore that it was “essential that they incorporate work on global concerns within their primary purpose.”

David Malpass, the head of the World Bank, said this month that he will be retiring a year early, in June.

He has come under criticism for repeatedly declining to state whether he thought human-made emissions were a factor in global warming.

Ajay Banga, an Indian-American former CEO of Mastercard, was nominated by Washington on Thursday to succeed him, attracting criticism for both his professional background and gender.

Friends of the Earth said, “We don’t need another World Bank president who will further corporate interests like fossil fuel and industrial agriculture.”