According to the document, the management of the World Bank intends to have ready concrete proposals to modify its mission, operating model and financial capacity, in order to submit them to the joint Development Committee of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for approval in October.
A World Bank spokesman said the document was intended to provide details on the scope, focus and timing of developments, with regular updates for shareholders and decisions later in the year.
Reform of multilateral development banks has been a topic of intense debate in recent months, after developing countries faced mounting pressure from inflation, energy and food shortages fueled by Russia’s war in Ukraine, slowing growth, rising debt burden and increasing vulnerability to climate shocks.
The pressures exposed the inadequacy of the structures of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – designed at the end of the Second World War to focus on the reconstruction of economies in times of peace – to face the current calamities world.
According to the document, the development lender will study options such as a possible new capital increase, changes to its capital structure to unlock more loans, and new financing tools such as guarantees for private sector loans and other ways to mobilize more private capital.
