On Wednesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is set to hold a roundtable discussion on the evolution of the World Bank and other development lenders in addressing climate change and other global crises.

The discussion, taking place during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings, will include finance ministers from major shareholders and borrowing countries, with a focus on finding ways to improve the multilateral development banks to better tackle current challenges.

The World Bank has proposed balance sheet changes that would enable an additional $50 billion lending over 10 years without compromising its AAA credit rating, Yahoo Finance reported via Reuters.

These changes are expected to be adopted by bank shareholders this week, and according to U.S. Treasury Undersecretary Jay Shambaugh, represent a “once in a generation transition” of the institutions, with further reforms expected to follow and expand to other multilateral development banks.

Written by staff