Reimagining the Role of Multilateral Development Banks

As the world seeks an end to the Covid-19 pandemic and to start a recovery that averts the next pandemic, we must reimagine that decades-old global economic order and unlock the full potential of its institutions. Just as World War II established these organizations, this crisis now requires us to urgently reimagine them and put them to better use.

This roadmap—the third in our series that details how the world can marshal a comprehensive pandemic response and full post-pandemic recovery—identifies several actionable recommendations and short-term priorities that would allow the multilateral development banks (MDBs) to increase their lending powers without diminishing their financial standing or their credit ratings. Recommending that these be set in motion this year, the Foundation focuses on areas that can garner political support in the short term, including calling upon the G20 Finance Ministers to:

1. Agree on a clear new mandate for the international financial institutions based around the Paris Climate Agreement and SDGs;
2. Rapidly advance replenishments for MDBs and in particular, the International Development Association (IDA), part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries;
3. Commission an independent capital adequacy review of MDBs in partnership with these institutions that better aligns investment policies with their strong financial track records;
4. Advance a series of energy transition financing packages developed and led by key emerging economies, financed by MDBs and private actors, and advance one pilot package prior to COP 26, the UN’s Climate Conference.

The Rockefeller Foundation’s roadmap also reinforces past calls upon the G20 Finance Ministers to accelerate the issuance of $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) when IMF shareholders convene in August. This includes the reallocation of at least $100 billion of these newly allocated SDRs towards Covid-19 vaccine procurement and delivery, and economic recovery in low- and middle-income countries, which have been hit the hardest by the pandemic. Doing so would end the pandemic in all countries by the end of 2022.