London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

Britain the only country to meet the needs of world's poorest during the pandemic, says World Bank

Britain the only country to meet the needs of world's poorest during the pandemic, says World Bank

The bank has pledged $160bn to help countries tackle the pandemic and its ramifications, but says few rich nations have stepped up to help
The World Bank says richer countries, with the exception of Great Britain, are not stepping up to help poorer countries in the face of the pandemic.

The World Bank's managing director of operations, Axel van Trotsenburg, said that the contributions from higher-income governments have been "flat or declining", a marked difference from what happened during the 2009-2010 financial crisis.

"With the notable exception of the UK, which has been an absolute leader, the contributions by governments have been much more flat or declining," he told The Telegraph.

"We saw the greatest generosity ever... during the depths of the financial crisis. We need that again. We cannot think that we can solve the problem in OECD countries alone. If you leave the poor countries out, it will not solve this problem.

"We have to look at the human face of this crisis, then realise that it would be a very good investment indeed if we could continue supporting these countries during this difficult time," he added.

The UK, the world's sixth biggest economy in 2019, pledged $3.8bn to the world's poorest countries via the World Bank's International Development Asosciation (IDA), in April this year, eclipsing Japan, the United States and France.

The World Bank's financial reserves come from several sources - from funds raised in the financial markets, earnings on its investments, fees paid in by member countries, contributions made by members and from the borrowing countries themselves, when they pay back their loans.

However, the World Bank itself has also faced criticism for the speed of its response, with a paper from the US-based Center for Global Development (CGD) last week suggesting that the organisation is not responding quickly or dramatically enough to the scale of the crisis caused by Covid-19.

The World Bank has pledged up to $160bn to client countries, starting quickly in spring this year. But CGD said that, for example, while lending has accelerated, with loan commitments up 118 per cent year on year, actual disbursements - payments of money to the countries themselves - has only increased by 31 per cent.

The co-author of the paper, CGD senior fellow Justin Sandefur, said: "The bank is doing more than it did during the global financial crisis for the poorest countries, but in the global financial crisis, the poorest countries came out relatively unscathed, because they were not as integrated into the New York or London credit markets and so on.

"Now, the magnitude of the shock in lower income countries is several fold larger - and they are getting a bit more money out of the World Bank. Relative to the scale of the crisis, this is sort of a pittance."

For its part, the World Bank said it is providing "large net positive flows" to the world's poorest countries - meaning the countries are getting more money than they are currently paying to service their debts.

It said it was making "rapid progress" in directing financing to client countries, including a recent $12bn pledge to ensure that vaccines are available equitably around the world. It added that it had already committed $43bn, or 41 per cent of the $104bn capacity indicated in March for the 15 months from April 2020 to June 2021: $25bn to the poorest countries, and $18bn to middle-income countries.

In the financial crisis in 2009-11, World Bank financing totaled $149bn, mainly to middle-income countries. Around $15bn went to the poorest countries.

Mr van Trotsenburg said an increasing amount of the financing this time was via grants rather than loans - which only come from the international community rather than the private sector, making commitments from countries even more important.

Regarding loans, he said making sure debts were fair for all involved was important, while ensuring that long-term development did not fall by the wayside as focus turned to the immediate crisis.

"There are always national interests, but we have to find the balance. The World Bank was created to find unity and not division and so we are deliberately looking at where are the commonalities, where can we move forward," he said.

"This is going to be important: only together will we be able to make a difference."
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
×