World Bank, IMF Inaugurate group on sustainable, inclusive growth

The World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have set up a High-Level Advisory Group (HLAG) on sustainable and inclusive recovery and growth.

According to Worldstagenews.com, the Bretton Woods institutions made the announcement in a joint statement issued in Washinton D.C. on Tuesday.

According to the statement, in the face of two crises, COVID-19 and climate change, the group will help secure a strong recovery and set a path for green, resilient and inclusive development over the coming decade.

“The HLAG will be jointly led by Mari Pangestu, Managing Director for Development Policy and Partnerships, World Bank, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, Director, Strategy, Policy and Review Department, IMF and Lord Nicholas Stern of the London School of Economics.

“It aims to advance understanding of key policy and institutional issues that will inform a response to multiple interconnected challenges, the two crises, which are exacerbating poverty and inequality, as well as structural weaknesses that existed before the pandemic,” the statement noted.

Made up of experts from research institutions, private sector and governments, in addition to senior staff of the World Bank and IMF, the HLAG will propose ideas and frameworks for strategic and practical national and global action.

These, it said, would contribute towards a sustainable and inclusive recovery, as well as setting the agenda for a sustained transformation based on new perspectives and models of growth and development.

David Malpass, president, World Bank Group, said the poor and most vulnerable had been hit hardest by COVID-19, climate change and other challenges.

“I look forward to this HLAG offering new ideas for impactful action, both at country-level and globally, to foster green, resilient and inclusive development and help developing countries get back on track to reduce poverty and inequality,” he said.

Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, IMF, said the world faced two huge crises, the pandemic and the climate emergency.

According to her, both of them demand radical and coordinated action.

“Through policy analysis and practical proposals, the HLAG will play a key role in this effort and I look forward to this important collaboration, ”Georgieva stated.

Over the next 18 months, the HLAG will marshal the combined and complementary policy experience and analytical strengths of its members to set out practical proposals in two phases.

Firstly, it would focus on the immediate challenge of a sustainable and inclusive recovery to inform the processes and meetings in 2021 leading up to the G20 Summit in Rome in October and the COP26 in Glasgow in November.

Secondly, it would deepen the analyses and formulation of actions for sustained transformation in 2022, the statement said.