You wish the circumstances were not as grim. I would start by saying i hope you and your families are healthy and coping in these challenging times. I want to express my deepest condolences to the millions of healthy and coping in these people around the world suffering from covid19 and who have lost a loved one to the pandemic. I just concluded a very productive virtual dialogue, low carbon virtual dialogue with our Development Committee. I was joined by managing director of the i. M. F. And it was good to hear the views from shareholders on how the World Bank Group and i. M. F. Can Work Together to support our member countries, especially the poorest and most vulnerable. I was pleased earlier this week that the g20 took up our joint call to provide a suspension in debt service to bilateral creditors during the crisis. Chris and i worked hard on this and supported it and were happy to see it done. Its a powerful, fastacting initiative that can bring real benefits to the poor. In response to covid19, the World Bank Group has focused on taking vast, broadbased action. Thats what i wanted us to achieve. Its resulted in new Health Emergency programs in over 100 countries by the end of april. We have 64 in operation today and will have more by the end of april. Going over 100, i hope. The World Bank Group will work to deploy as much as 160 billion over the next 15 months. Its tailored to the nature of the health, economic and social shocks that countries are facing. And the other m. D. B. s, regional m. D. B. s Asian Development bank, and so on, have committed, as a group, to roughly 80 billion over this period, bringing the total to 240 billion. The soft loan the part of the world bank that makes grants, and very concessional credit, intends to provide over 50 50 billion of that in new resources and its good that ida countries will have bilateral Debt Service Relief beginning may 1. That way they can concentrate their resources on fighting the pandemic and its economic and social consequences. Our program is based around three pillars, protecting the poorest, supporting jobs and saving jobs. I. F. C. And meega are very engaged in that effort and helping developing countries implement Emergency Health operations in order to strengthen Economic Resilience going forward. All of this is important. The spring meetings that weve had this week virtually come at a moment in history when the covid19 pandemic is causing deep economic harm and threatening to erase decades of economic progress and poverty reduction. Were expecting a major global recession. Our estimates suggest a much deeper downturn than the Great Recession and we are responding forcefully and massively, especially for the ida countries, the poorest countries, involving significant increases in highly concessional financing and grants. As the pandemic unfolds, disruptions in domestic Food Supply Chains are emerging as a pressing issue in many countries. Youre all aware of the locust crisis in east africa hitting the food supply. We have been working on labor shortages are becoming an issue affecting trade and logistics. The loss of income and jobs is reducing peoples ability to afford or buy food so we have a a double problem, both the supply and the demand sides being disrupted in such a critical area as food and Agricultural Supply chains. Thats to name just one part of this problem from the pandemic. In my discussions this morning at the Development Committee, i thanked the group, the governors of the various world bank constituencies. I thanked them for their support and in their encouragement during my first year as the bank groups president. Theres a very long road ahead. Hundreds of millions of people need support. As you know, Development Needs were acute even before the shutdown in the global economy. Also the debt burdens and problems in debt sustainability were giant. Were working on those but 2 3 of the worlds extreme poor live in ida countries and will be severely impacted by a major global recession. Our response has been closely coordinated with other governments, with international organizations, with other Multilateral Development banks, bilateral financiers, as well as with private sector and civil society. I have been very proud of the World Bank Groups effectiveness during the pandemic. We wanted fast, broad action and were getting results on that and it took a lot of work from people to achieve that. I took the opportunity this morning at the Development Committee to thank the World Bank Groups staff and others for all their hard work at this difficult time. So i want to underscore the severity of the crisis, the urgency of the task and my heartfelt wishes for success to all those who are facing hardship. With that, id be happy to take some questions. Thank you. Thank you very much. We received a number of questions. Both live and in advance. Turning first and forgive me for any pronunciation issues. Thats on me. The first is from tumbia. Covid19 has set the World Economy into recession. Africa is a net exporter of commodities. How is the world Bank Planning to support african countries . Pres. Malpass were supporting countries in several ways. One is the Immediate Health crisis so we want to address that and i mentioned the 100 countries that we intend to have programs in by the end of april and many of those, most of those will be in subsaharan africa. But in addition to that, this Food Supply Chain issue is something that needs lots of work. The bank brings global expertise to this. The bank the people that i work with every day were involved with the sars epidemic and the Global Response, the ebola crisis and Global Response and also the food crisis that hit very hard in, i think, in 2009. So we are able to bring those that expertise to bear on this crisis. So i guess to shorten the answer, its we will be doing a broad range of response by all parts of the bank as we look forward or as we try to deal with shocks that hit individual sectors, that hit the food sector, and hit the health sector. Theres a giant bank effort to address these. I should include and mention the i. F. C. , International Finance corporation, is working actively with companies to try to keep them open and the jobs going and meega, as well, is involved. So its a whole World Bank Group thats underway. Thanks. Fantastic. Thank you. Going to another part of the world, weve got carina from compass daily from indonesia. What policies should developing countries facing the risk of increased unemployment numbers pursue . Are new strategies needed . Would strengthening of the social safety net be sufficient to face the challenge . Thank you. Pres. Malpass strengthening the social net is important and well be doing that in many countries. That involves identifying people, a means testing, and identifying people in the most need and providing what ways to have cash transferred or Services Available to the poorest that can use government mechanisms, n. G. O. Community, and private sector. So its a big, broad effort to try to have a successful social safety net and the developing world, its harder to do than its very hard to do because you have to have a lot of systems that operate together at the same time. But let me also add the need for economies and systems to be flexible in order to adjust to the new Global Supply chains and also the new local supply chains. One of the things, very disruptive, going on in developing countries is the disruption of daily activities. Its very hard to work from home for many people there simply arent the resources to be able to work from home and theres an urgency to getting to going to your job, to getting food and what that means is changing the systems that people are used to. So i urge countries to have flexibility in terms of their markets and in terms of their systems, their applications of good transparent legal standards and also transparency on debt and investment projects in order to get the best outcomes. Thank you. Thank you. And coming now to a question from a reporter here in washington, Heather Scott from afp. How concerned are you that the economic crisis or unrest driven by the uncertainty could destabilize some fragile countries . How much more will be needed to support and restart the economy . And what other financing tools does the world bank need . Thank you. Pres. Malpass thank you, heather. Thats a big question. We are, as you know, making a major shift in the bank in order to provide more and more resources and personnel and activity in fragile states, fragile states that suffer from fragility, from violence, and so these countries which may be, for example, in the sahara or the horn of africa or really somewhere in the developing world, are challenged by are incredibly challenged by the afe in the developing world, are challenged, are incredibly economicd by the downturn and by the Health Crisis itself, and by the societal challenges that they face. We were already working in all of these countries with expanding these programs and trying to do what we can in terms of resource transfer, and i know the imf is as well trying to transfer resources to these countries. As far as other things that can be done, i think we need to do two things, one is respond to the crisis that we are trying to build of them that will work into the future, and that means programs that will affect the supply, education, that educate girls as well as boys, that protect the environment and build a climate resiliency, all of those programs are still ongoing. As interesting thing is people try to work from home or have more social distancing, even in developing countries, what that means is more use of the internet and more use of communications means, and i think, looking down the line, there will be some benefit from the strengthening thats going on right now of the communication systems. These are very important. You can imagine education being done online in poorer countries, people learning foreign languages, people learning agricultural techniques. And so that still leaves a very grim outlook, but it also means , or its something that we want to support. Ill take a note or add, a Digital Financial services are, i think, something that can be very empowering for new entrants for small businesses, for women in markets, in a way that they can have money. And the world bank is looking for ways to do cash transfers through Digital Financial service systems, which will help build and strengthen them and create resilience for future downturns. Thanks. Thank you. And thanks to all the reporters on the line that are sending in questions. Really appreciated. Weve received a number of them, including tahir amine from the Business Recorder in pakistan, about the effect of the pandemic on small and medium enterprises, people asking whether we will do anything to support s. M. E. s. Thank you. David yeah, as people have world,s, envy developed this is a big challenge. Small businesses that have lost customers are under massive strain, and its singularly challenging in the developing world, because there arent the support networks that might be available in other countries. So in pakistan and other places, were working on that. The International Finance corporation, which is active in pakistan, is working to create working capital facilities and also trade finance facilities. One of the things thats been breaking down in the world is trade finance. This is something that i. F. C. Is able to help with. That means the financing needs, the shortterm financing needed to help with imports and exports. So i. F. C. Has seen very strong growth in that in those programs, basically around the developing world. And then also trying to create working capital lines. The ibrd, and ida, the World Bank Programs also aim at trying to provide a quick response, aid, to governments as they work to have a good support program for small and medium sized enterprises. You know, ive mentioned the difficulty of the the difficulty that were in with this massive downturn in the world. It is going to it is just a giant challenge for small businesses. One thing i think im sorry, im going on but one thing i want to say is that having people keep their skills and be available as the recovery occurs is going to be the biggest asset. If we think around the world, the biggest asset that the world has is people, and that means that there can be a recovery once we see the Health Consequences abate. Thank you. Were also receiving a number of questions from countries, outlets, i should say, in countries highly reliant on tourism, including from fiji. So hello to fiji. Thank you for joining us. With tourism practically disappearing, how can the World Bank Help these countries recover after the pandemic . Small states are in difficulty , because theres lots of attention to the bigger states , but what were trying to do at the bank is also have attention to smaller states, and so some of our hundred programs that i mentioned do penetrate into small island states, and i think are being helpful, but more importantly, for the countries themselves, being flexible in their in allowing workers to change sectors and to create new Business Ideas and new sectors in this environment is very important. It is not only the tourism sector, but as we look at sectors across the developing world, that might be agricultural Distribution Systems that rely on shipping to foreign markets. Some of those apply chains, meaning the export side, has been lost for developing countries, and of course, many of them, the growth parts, small for example, small manufacturing and textiles are feeling grave strains because of the disruption of supply chains. So, i think what needs to be done, or the most help that could be done is creating a strong, social safety net, and allowing people or setting up a system where people have flexibility to adjust their sectors and their supply lines in order to try to create new economic output. I am not happy with this answer. It is not a full enough answer, and it is not really going to be fully successful, but there are there is lots of activity, well, creating new activity is going to be the biggest challenge and can also be a goal. Thanks. Thank you very much. To a questiong an with therahm Business Standard in bangladesh. He sent two questions. I will allow it. What is the Food Security situation in the world now, and can you address, i know you touched on it briefly, but covid19s on global trade as well . Lets do Food Security first, please, thank you. David Food Security is a problem. What we have tried to discourage countries from doing is hoarding. There is a tendency in a crisis to hunker down, and i think it is a critical part of Global Cooperation to not do that, to look for teamwork with other countries. I was just on the developing committee, the call this morning of the Development Committee, and one of the final speakers was a deputy finance minister from russia, who highlighted cooperation internationally as being a key goal, and so, that is very welcome, and it is important for all of those involved in the Food Supply Chain, also the medical supply chain, to open to maintain open markets. On the import side, what countries need to allow his trade in order to have what countries need to do is allow trade to cushion due to the economic downturn. David, im sorry, what was the second part . What you see as the Global Impact . And repercussions there. David we talked about tourism and about food, but i think it is hard today. This morning on the call, someone made a point on how the world will be set up, or how we could all emerge from this crisis. One thing i would say to give confidence is the resilience and of people and the value human beings. That is the worlds biggest value. It is not the factories, it is not the assets, it is the people. And so they will be able to go back to work, to produce, to create things as soon as the Health Issues can be addressed. So i have some confidence that there will be resilience of systems and of flexibility on the other side. Thank you very much. Right, turning now, asking, with shortages of medical supplies, some questions have implemented export restrictions. So this is a traderelated question. Do you think the covid19 pandemic is leading to growing protectionism . David i hope not. I mentioned that i think countries need to step forward and say, we are not going to use the crisis as a reason to close our markets or to block our markets, and we and the world needs to Work Together to share among our countries that are plentiful supplies of certain things and not get into a barter system, where you are trading those off. We should allow markets to function, markets to clear, and the supplies to go to those most in need. I know china is supplying some of its excess production to the rest of the world, and that is very welcome. I do take note also that in the g20 meetings, china is supporting the International Agreement to suspend, to allow a moratorium of debt repayments, forda countries if they ask forbearance. That is very important, because china is one of the big creditors, and their participation in that effort is important and was very welcome. Thanks. Thank you. That goes to a related question. The g20 agreed to support for some nations. Do you think the debt transparency has improved . David thank you for that question. This is something that i have worked on for some years, and i think it is very important to development. If we think about how important debt moves around the world, one of the critical aspects of it is that there will be transparency and a rule of law with regard to the creditors and the debtors, and transparency means that there is a system for knowing what agreements have been made, so at the Development Committee this morning, i listed five different areas that i think are that i think we need to make progress on in terms of the transparency of debt and investment that is going on. I wont go through those. I think those are posted and available, and they were available, and i included them in my written remarks yesterday to the imfc, but the five steps of transparency, but i want to highlight the value of this brings to developing countries. If they are transparent, they are much more attractive to profitable investments coming in from around the world, and from private sectors around the world. So one of the things that will go on with this new debt moratorium is there will be a monitoring of how the governments are using the fiscal space that is created by the debt relief. If a government saves money by not paying creditors, there is an expectation that use it for health, education, economic, rebuilding, jobs, concrete ways to help the people of their country. And there is also, within the debt relief initiative, the idea they will be monitoring an d an assessment of the debt sustainability for countries, the amounts of debt, and that process itself will add transparency, and that will think, change the way countries have been lending into the developing world, and it will improve it substantially, and there will be big benefits, even to the creditors. You know, it is not the best system for creditors to be making nontransparent loans into poor countries, and so, this is going to, i think, improve the system. It also means that there will be more emphasis on the concession ality of loans and grants. That is why i. D. A. Is so important. It is actually 51 billion of resources that we expect i. D. A. To be able to provide over the next 15 months. That is a large sum, and it is done in a very generous way, in a way that is very concessional in terms of the Interest Rate or the grand element, the high grant element that is offered in those resources. And that will be important for current creditors to be providing very concessional aid, if they in their relationships with the poorest countries, so we welcome that. I take note that countries around the world are fully engaged, including china, and that is going to bring big benefits both to china and to the developing world. Thanks. Thank you. Terrific. A question coming in from alex asking about the situation in latin america. How countries that have countries in latin america reached out to the world bank for help . David hi, alex. I dont have a list, but many countries have reached out, and they have reached out to the imf, so the flow, the programs exist in the countries we have added this layer of help emergency programs. Many of them are in latin america. And i know there was also the consideration for middle income countries. Several of the latin american countries, most of them, graduated from i. D. A. They are not the poorest nations in the world, but they certainly have massive financial need. And so, one of the things that we are looking at is ways to provide resources and Technical Assistance and also ideas for the government on how they can make their systems work better during the crisis, and then on the other side, once the crisis is over, what i would like to see is countries come up with ideas to rebuild. Thank you. We have time for one more, related to what you were just saying, from the philippines daily inquirer, 12 hours ahead of us. Thank you for joining us. How could economies emerging out of lockdowns could resume consumer and Business Confidence . David yeah. And i am glad the word confidence was mentioned there. So some part of what some of us are trying to do and i think what private sector leaders are doing is explaining to people that this that we can get through this. I was very happy on the Development Committee call this morning, the finance minister of china discussed the negative gdp numbers that came out this morning on chinas First Quarter gdp, but then he also began to speak about the recovery that is going on into april as people began to reopen and began to make progress forward. If so, i think as we think about the lockdown emerging from the lockdown, what will be important is people get back to work pretty quickly. That they stay safe, they find ways within their community or within their nation to be testing, and to be aware of the distance needed under these new conditions, but also that they focus on highpriority sectors to begin to reopen. And then i would like to repeat what i said earlier about the need for flexibility of market systems within economies, and as we think about the philippines or indonesia, there was that question earlier. These are massive, island countries with diversity of systems of cultures, people, of ethnicity, that all need something different, as we think about emerging from the crisis. So, allowing that to happen, the diversity to happen to allow consistent with the laws of the country but in a way to allow people to move quickly into output, is the way to go. And confidence, inspiring confidence will be one of the Biggest Challenges for governments to speak carefully, forcefully, and with confidence about the value of people, the value of the assets of the country, the sectors that can be profitable, all of that will be very important. Thanks for those questions. Thank you, and with that, we will be closing. Mr. Malpass, i dont know if you have any final words you wish to say . David well, that was a mouthful. As far as closing words for the news media, i think we need to think about the everyone in this system trying to break out of the boxes, break out of the boundaries, and do all that can be done in order to move us forward. That is what the world bank has been trying to do. I know the imf is trying to do that. I see that governments are trying to do that, think in new ways, and i really think private sector are being very creative in trying to find their way through, and also, we did not talk about it, but one of the things going on is a very active research in vaccines, in therapeutics, in Health Care Systems that i think will have a positive impact, so we can all hope for that, and work hard on it, and were trying to do that at the world bank. Thanks. Thank you. And thanks to everyone for joining us this morning. I know that folks are in tough time zones forgetting on press simplynces, so i would ask, in closing to stay safe and , healthy. Thank you all very much. Thank you. Please stand by. David thanks everybody. , primehington journal time, a special evening addition of washington journal, on the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic. Mayorests are chicago Lori Lightfoot on her city and the personal response to the pandemic, and dr. Moyne talks about the spread of the virus and the latest data on how well. Next, governors john kasich and Terry Mcauliffe talk about the pandemic on the upcoming president ial election. This event,oderated and it was hosted by the Meridian International center. S
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