By the end of April, the World Bank will implement 100 new emergency support programs for developing countries in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sixty-four programs are already underway: one in Cape Verde, one in São Tomé and Príncipe and four in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The World Bank will release $ 160 billion over the next 15 months to help countries recover from the pandemic. Of this total, $ 50 billion will come from the International Development Association (IDA), which provides grants or facilitated loans to the world’s poorest economies.
These same countries will have, as of May 1, a temporary suspension of payment of debts with creditors of the G20, the largest economies on the planet.
World Bank President David Malpass celebrated this measure and called for greater transparency in the countries’ indebtedness process.
According to Malpass, countries that are more transparent will become more attractive to international investments, including from the private sector.
The World Bank president also emphasized the need for social protection systems for workers in sectors in crisis, such as small and medium-sized enterprises and the tourism sector.
Countries will need, among other challenges, to create conditions for these professionals to be able to relocate to others that offer better opportunities, according to him.