Economics & Development

This statement, delivered by Jozef Síkela, European Commissioner for International Partnerships, to the 113th Meeting of the Development Committee on April 16, 2026, outlines the European Union’s response to a global context defined by heightened volatility, geopolitical conflict, weaponised dependencies, and accelerating climate, poverty, and inequality challenges. It reaffirms the EU’s firm commitment to a rules‑based multilateral system and underscores the central role of the World Bank Group (WBG) and Multilateral Development Banks in delivering global solutions at scale. The statement reiterates the EU’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and reconstruction, sustained engagement in the Middle East in support of peace, humanitarian access, and a two‑state solution, and backing for inclusive political transitions in fragile contexts such as Syria, while calling for restraint, civilian protection, and respect for international law in Iran. The EU highlights its role as the world’s largest provider of development assistance and a leading contributor to IDA, and calls on MDBs to continue implementing the G20 Roadmap for a bigger, better, and more effective system. It commends the WBG’s Evolution Roadmap reforms and urges sustained ambition on climate action, water resilience, private‑sector development, quality employment, domestic resource mobilisation, and gender equality. The statement also highlights the EU’s Global Gateway strategy as a vehicle for mobilising large‑scale public‑private investment in infrastructure, skills, and sustainable growth, concluding with a call for collective responsibility and deeper multilateral cooperation to meet global development needs.

This statement, delivered by Sheikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Minister of Finance and National Economy of the Kingdom of Bahrain, on behalf of Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Maldives, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, to the 113th Meeting of the Development Committee on April 16, 2026, highlights the severe human, economic, and systemic impacts of the recent escalation in the Middle East and its extensive spillovers on global energy markets, supply chains, food security, and economic stability. It underscores the critical and expanding role of the World Bank Group (WBG) in responding to unprecedented levels of fragility, conflict, and violence, particularly in the MENA region, through effective use of crisis response instruments, sustained engagement in FCV contexts, and flexible delivery approaches that balance government ownership with operational realities. The statement supports the forthcoming Refreshed FCV Strategy Implementation Plan and stresses the importance of confidentiality, appropriate Board oversight, and alignment with IDA21 policy commitments. It further emphasizes the need for a differentiated and country‑owned Middle‑Income Countries strategy that addresses structural constraints, supports growth and jobs, and avoids one‑size‑fits‑all approaches. The statement highlights the central role of the private sector in job creation, calling for stronger business‑enabling environments, regulatory certainty, PPP frameworks, and enhanced upstream support from IFC. It underscores the importance of guarantees, agribusiness value chains, and job‑rich sectors in translating growth into employment, reaffirming the WBG’s essential role as a trusted platform for knowledge, financing, and collective impact across the constituency.

This written statement was delivered by Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to the Development Committee in April 2026. The statement opens by highlighting the significant economic disruption caused by the war in the Middle East, which has compounded pre-existing vulnerabilities in the global economy. Global growth is projected at 3.1percent in 2026 and 3.2 percent in 2027, below the pace recorded in 2024-25, while global headline inflation is expected to rise temporarily to 4.4 percent in 2026 before resuming its downward trajectory. Advanced economies are projected to grow at a subdued 1.8 percent, while emerging market and developing economies face a decline to 3.9 percent, with the Middle East and Central Asia region experiencing a sharp drop to 1.9 percent. Low-income developing countries (LIDCs) remain the most vulnerable, burdened by high food and fuel import dependence, elevated debt service costs, and weakening remittance inflows. Key downside risks include a protracted conflict, geopolitical tensions, trade disputes, and potential financial market corrections linked to a reassessment of AI-driven profit expectations. On policy priorities, the statement calls for monetary policy vigilance to anchor inflation expectations and preserve central bank independence, alongside enhanced financial stability oversight, particularly of non-bank financial intermediaries. Fiscal responses to shocks should be temporary, well-targeted, and embedded within credible medium-term frameworks, while structural reforms are needed to improve the business environment, modernize labor markets, and harness the potential of new technologies such as AI. Regarding the IMF's own institutional role, the statement outlines several key actions: upgrading surveillance frameworks, including the Comprehensive Surveillance Review and Financial Sector Assessment Programs, to better address emerging challenges; collaborating with the World Bank to review the Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries; reforming the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) to better serve low-income members; and strengthening country-tailored capacity development. The statement also announces progress toward implementing a 50 percent quota increase under the 16th General Review of Quotas, aimed at bolstering the Fund's crisis-response capacity. The MD concludes by underscoring the importance of multilateral cooperation to address global imbalances, debt fragilities, and climate risks, and reaffirms the IMF's commitment to deploying its full toolkit in support of member countries navigating this complex and uncertain environment.

This statement was delivered by Mrs. Louise Pierrette Mvono, Minister of Planning and Prospect of the Republic of Gabon, on behalf of the Africa Group II Constituency at the 113th Meeting of the Development Committee on April 16, 2026. The statement centers on the World Bank Group's jobs agenda, with particular focus on the second pillar, creating an enabling environment for more and better-paid jobs. While welcoming the Bank's regulatory reform agenda, Mrs. Mvono argues that Africa requires a broader, more inclusive strategy that accounts for the continent's distinctive socio-economic realities, particularly the fact that up to 80 percent of African workers are employed in the informal sector. She emphasizes that job strategies must recognize, support, and gradually upgrade informal activities, rather than overlooking them, and calls for granular, context-specific policies aligned with national development strategies to achieve meaningful structural economic transformation. On productive sectors, the statement identifies infrastructure, energy, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism, and value-added manufacturing as priority areas for job creation, alongside support for micro, small, and medium enterprises. It also urges the World Bank Group to move beyond remittances and more systematically engage diaspora skills and entrepreneurial networks as drivers of employment and investment. With respect to natural resource wealth, the statement calls for policies that address institutional capacity gaps and technological innovation, prioritizing the localization and reshoring of supply chains in mineral-rich countries to generate high-quality local employment. The statement advocates for stronger strategic partnerships between the World Bank Group, other multilateral development banks, and UN agencies, and specifically calls for Bank support in implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a vehicle for regional economic integration and job creation. On labor mobility, it endorses a "win-win-win" approach to global skills partnerships that benefits workers, origin countries, and destination countries alike. Regarding financing, Mrs. Mvono stresses that an enabling environment alone is insufficient without access to affordable capital, and calls for tailored instruments, including credit guarantees, risk-sharing mechanisms, and local-currency financing. She also flags the growing digital divide as a risk of new forms of exclusion and calls for targeted digital skills training. On debt, the statement highlights how elevated debt levels and borrowing costs prevent low-income and fragile states from implementing necessary reforms, and calls for a reformed global financial architecture that includes debt swaps, debt reduction, outright cancellations for the most distressed countries, and a functional debt resolution mechanism. The statement concludes by reaffirming that regulatory reform alone is insufficient. For Africa to deliver employment at scale, speed, and with resilience, the World Bank Group must adopt a strategy that fully reflects the realities of informality, youth unemployment, gender inequality, fragility, and climate change.

This edition of the Macro Poverty Outlooks periodical contains country-by-country forecasts and overviews for GDP, fiscal, debt and poverty indicators for the developing countries of Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan region. Macroeconomic indicators such as population, gross domestic product, and gross domestic product per capita, and where available, other indicators such as primary school enrollment, life expectancy at birth, total greenhouse gas emissions and inflation, among others, are included for each country. In addition to the World Bank’s most recent forecasts, key conditions and challenges, recent developments and outlook are briefly described for each country in the region.