Former Executive Chairman, Mastercard
World Bank-IMF 2023 Annual Meetings Plenary: Ajay Banga, Kristalina Georgieva, Sergii Marchenko
... livelihoods thanks to the strong partnership with the World Bank and the IMF as well as generous donors countries facing fragile ...
About Ajaypal Banga
Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, has been discussing the institution's focus on job creation and its shift toward outcome-oriented metrics. In a May 2026 investment conference, Banga described his approach to cultural transformation, stating that at Mastercard he united the company around the mission to "kill cash," and at the World Bank he reduced the corporate scorecard from 155 items to 22 output-oriented measures. He said that "a job earning is the best way to drive people's hope and dignity" and that poverty is "both a state of mind and a state of being." In an April 2026 event at the Atlantic Council, Banga argued that the old model of relying on public finances is "broken" and that the private sector must be brought in to address the challenge of 1.2 billion young people entering the workforce. He outlined a jobs agenda built on three pillars: physical and human capital infrastructure, business enabling reforms, and catalytic capital. In a March 2026 interview, Banga discussed the drivers of income inequality, stating that when interest rates stay low for a long time, "capital returns increase significantly while labor returns stagnate." He described the World Bank as "not just a money bank; it is a knowledge bank" that helps countries build municipal financing markets and primary healthcare systems. Banga also said that young people should "build their own stories based on current opportunities rather than compensating for past wrongs." He noted that the World Bank raised a record $24 billion for IDA 21, which through its AAA rating can be leveraged four times for the poorest countries.
Transcript (13 segments)
✨ AI-enhanced transcript with speaker attribution
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Ajaypal Banga0:00
Challenges facing our membership continue to intensify. Growth is below the historical average. Inflation, while declining in some parts of the world, still remains stubbornly high. Climate shocks and geopolitical fragmentation threaten to create more food and energy price spikes and complicate the flow of commodities across borders. More than half of low-income countries and some middle-income countries are in or at high risk of debt distress. Medium-term growth is forecast to be at its slowest pace in decades. Policy makers have little room for maneuver.
Of all of the global challenges facing our membership, there is none greater than countering the destructive force of war. None greater than repairing the trails of devastation, human tragedy, and disruption of economies across the world. Violent conflict has spiked dramatically since 2010, doubling in the past decade, with setbacks to stability in regions across the world. Poverty reduction efforts are derailed in fragility, conflict, and violence. Gender-based violence increases during war, making it critical to protect women and girls. War cuts across all our development objectives. Conflict drives people from their homes and livelihoods.
Thanks to the strong partnership with the World Bank and the IMF, as well as generous donors, countries facing fragile situations are better able to provide basic services and avoid far economic downturn. The people we most need to reach are growing in numbers. Nearly a third of the world's population did not have regular access to food last year. Severe food insecurity is twice as prevalent in FCV countries than in non-FCV countries.
Nonetheless, countries such as my own are resilient. For Ukraine, war today is a matter of life and death as we suffer from Russia's invasion. Thanks to timely support from the World Bank and the IMF, we have been able to stabilize our economy and provide critical basic services to our citizens.
Economic growth in much of the developing world is retreating, falling from 6% to 5% in two decades and on track for just 4% over the next six years. With each lost percent, 100 million people are pulled into poverty and another 50 million people are pushed into extreme poverty. Dig a little deeper and you will find people struggling to provide for themselves and their families as their incomes have stagnated. In sub-Saharan Africa, per capita income is the same as it was 14 years ago. Meanwhile, debt has increased throughout the emerging markets, doubling in Africa, shackling countries to the ground just as they are trying to rise.
We are living in a world with alarming challenges, but at a time of intensifying polarization and extremes. Beneath the surface, a growing mistrust is pulling the global North and the global South apart, and that is complicating the prospect of progress. The global South's frustration is understandable. In many ways, they are paying the price for the prosperity of others when they should be ascendant. They are very concerned that promised resources will never manifest. They feel that energy rules are not applied universally, and they worry that a growing generation will be locked into a prison of poverty.
But the truth is, we cannot endure another period of emission-heavy growth. We must find a way to finance a different world where our climate is protected, where pandemics are manageable if not preventable, where food is abundant, and fragility and poverty are defeated. So our task is great, and looking across the world, it can become easy to be consumed by a sense of despair.
Yet in all corners of the globe, people are eager to go to work. They want to create with their own hands. They want a better life for their children and their grandchildren. I have felt that yearning among entrepreneurs in Nigeria. I've seen it in the proud eyes of artists in Indonesia. I've touched it on the worn hands of farmers in Jamaica. The bank has an obligation, in fact a duty, to match their energy with a fierce determination. We have to be the hand on their back, moving people forward. We must be an institution that exports optimism and impact.
But we must change to make good in that promise and deliver on what is being demanded from us. So the World Bank is turning to face the wind, and that evolution began months ago. And today, there is a new vision and mission for the World Bank, and that is to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet.
Our starting point is not easy. As indicated in our World Economic Outlook a few days ago, the world has slowed down in terms of growth. Yes, tremendous resilience, but the recovery from the shocks is slow and uneven. Slow because at 3%, growth is currently well below the average of the last two decades before the pandemic, and medium-term growth prospects are also the weakest in decades. Uneven because the economic scarring from the recent shocks is vastly different across countries, with emerging markets and developing countries clearly the hardest hit after a long period of economic convergence.
A dangerous divergence between countries and regions has emerged, made worse by fragmentation, climate change, and fragility, which has left many countries at the breaking point. This is especially the case here on the African continent, home of the world's youngest population. Progress in closing the income gap with more advanced economies and generating job-rich growth will be vital over the next 50 years.
So in this moment of radical uncertainty, what are the no-regrets actions that will help us write a better story for the next 50 years? I will place them in two groups: investment in strong economic foundations and investment in international cooperation. These are captured in the Marrakech principles that the World Bank and the government of Morocco, together with the fund, announced earlier this week.
First, investment in strong economic foundations. In an environment with weak medium-term growth prospects, the right policies and reforms are essential. Here in Morocco, in the areas devastated by the earthquake, it was the buildings with strong foundations and a solid structure which sustained the shocks best. The lesson is, even if faced with very different economic settings, policy makers everywhere need to build strong economic foundations through sound policies. What does that mean? Price stability is key. It is a prerequisite for growth and it protects people, especially the poor. This means the fight against inflation remains paramount. So is safeguarding financial stability. Clearly, we are facing a higher-for-longer era in terms of interest rates, but a sharp further tightening of financial conditions can happen and it can hit markets, banks, and non-banks.