It is vital to increase quota resources for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before year-end, its chief, Kristalina Georgieva, said yesterday, while urging members of the G20 bloc to deliver on a promise of $100 billion a year in climate funds.
In a declaration at its summit in New Delhi this weekend, the grouping vowed to tackle debt vulnerabilities in low and middle-income countries “in an effective, comprehensive and systematic manner”, but offered no fresh plan of action.
“G20 members must lead by example in delivering on the promises of $100bn per year for climate finance, supported by strengthening the multilateral development banks,” Georgieva said in a statement at the end of the two-day summit.
“Countries also need to mobilise domestic resources to finance and manage the green transition through tax reforms, effective and efficient public spending, strong fiscal institutions, and deep local debt markets.”
She urged the grouping to strengthen the global financial safety net.
“To make the global economy stronger and more resilient in a more shock-prone world, it is vital to reach an agreement to increase the IMF’s quota resources before the end of the year,” she said.
Such a pact would secure resources needed for the Fund’s interest-free support to the poorest countries through the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, she added.
The G20 summit also pledged to strengthen and reform multilateral development banks, while accepting a proposal to regulate cryptocurrencies more tightly worldwide.
“More work lies ahead, including in the realm of digital money and crypto assets,” Georgieva said.
Meanwhile, speaking to CNBC on the sidelines of the summit, Georgieva said that the rail-to-sea economic corridor linking India with Middle Eastern and European countries should not be exclusionary and should engage in the spirit of an integrated world economy.
“If we want trade to be an engine of growth, then we have to create corridors and opportunities,” Georgieva said.
“What is important is to do it for the benefit of everybody, and not for exclusion of others,” she said. “In that sense, I would encourage all countries working collaboratively with each other to do so in the spirit of integrated economy.”
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