BackWorld Bank and IMF: Don’t miss the woods for the trees
For the Bretton Woods twins to retain their heft, they should raise their game to serve the world better
PremiumThis year’s spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund that began on Monday will discuss climate finance, among other weighty issues, but amid clear signs of a Chinese challenge to the world order set by America. While China’s financial ties overseas reveal a geopolitical design against Western power, even as Beijing appears to snarl at Taiwan-US relations and relish another war distraction for Washington, its diplomatic headway in West Asia is now being analysed in the context of Gulf capital moving eastward and a Russia-included oil cartel. Chinese and Saudi project loans and economic bailouts are a global reality.
For the Bretton Woods twins to retain their heft, they should raise their game to serve the world better. Being US-backed may no longer be the asset it was. As the US is no longer an upholder of free trade, the duo might also need to worry about “common prosperity" coming to be seen as a Chinese proposition globally. How effectively and quickly the two multilateral lenders are reformed could make a big difference, as also whether they are widely seen to be serving everybody’s best interests rather than just the West’s own.
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