Policymakers at the World Bank and IMF spring meetings this week will grapple over more funds for debt-strapped nations and development goals as global crises stretch aid budgets.
The International Development Association, the World Bank’s $200bn lending arm to the world’s poorest countries, is leading a wave of fundraising this year for “replenishment” of the equity that backs grants and loans needed to help countries struggling to pay back a decade of borrowing from China and bond markets.
But this year a record number of other developmental organisations and programmes, including the World Health Organization and Gavi, the alliance rolling out the first anti-malaria vaccine, are also aiming to top up their contributions from western governments distracted by elections at home and wars in Europe and the Middle East.