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The IMF and World Bank will cooperate with shareholders and partners to address the complex challenges facing the world today like climate change, debt vulnerabilities and countries’ digital transitions.
The bank and the monetary fund will work to mobilise the substantial resources needed, both domestic and external resources, said Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of IMF, and Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank.
"To this end, we will increase our support to help countries build strong tax policy and administration and fiscal institutions that deliver efficient public spending and sound debt and public financial management, along with our ongoing work to support development of strong domestic financial markets," Georgieva and Banga said in the joint statement.
On climate change, which the institutions recognized as a threat to global peace, security, economic stability, and development, the IMF and World Bank said: "To address this challenge, our institutions need to help all our member countries integrate their climate and development goals."
The two institutions would collaborate on climate change on a "more structured and institutionalized footing".
This includes formalising regular meetings of the new Bank-Fund Climate Advisory Group every two months to consider climate-related developments on key projects, including loans through the IMF's new Resilience and Sustainability Trust, which provides middle-income countries with financing on climate resilience and transition projects.
The two institutions also said they will incorporate climate considerations into their work on debt sustainability for low-income countries.
"We will enhance our joint work to help prevent further build-up of debt vulnerabilities, assisting countries to strengthen debt management and transparency and public finances" while deepening support to creditors and debtors engaged in a debt restructuring as well as cooperate with partners to improve restructuring processes.
On the digital transition, the two institutions said they would collaborate to help countries to connect their citizens to online services and reduce barriers to digital inclusion.
(Writing by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)
