The World Bank’s COVID Response

More from the Series

CGD NOTE

Harder Times, Softer Terms: Assessing the World Bank’s New Sustainable Development Finance Policy Amidst the COVID Crisis
Scott Morris
July 22, 2020
The World Bank’s non-concessional borrowing (NCBP) policy for IDA countries was introduced in 2006 following major rounds of debt relief and debt cancellation for a large subset of these countries through the Heavily Indebted Poor Country Initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative.
Blog Post

More World Bank Borrowers Will Need Grants, Not Loans. As a Result, More World Bank Donors Will Need to Pony Up
Scott Morris et al.
June 04, 2020
Rather than providing relief on repayments from existing loans, IDA’s debt sustainability framework adjusts future financing from loans to grants for countries at high risk of debt distress. But what happens to IDA’s loans-to-grants model when a large number of IDA countries trigger the risk thresho...
Blog Post

Maximizing IDA's COVID-19 Crisis Response: Why a Debt Standstill Isn’t the Right Approach (For Now)
Clemence Landers et al.
April 30, 2020
Let’s unpack our arguments for why a debt standstill would be the wrong move for IDA at this point in time.
Blog Post

Revisiting HIPC as Part of the COVID-19 Response: How did Commercial Debt Relief for Poorest Countries Work Last Time?
Clemence Landers
April 16, 2020
The G20 is calling on commercial creditors to follow their lead and extend a moratorium on their debt. But if past is precedent external commercial debt could be shaping up to be major fault line in the debt relief process moving forward.