Elevated commodity prices could prolong inflationary pressures
WASHINGTON, October 26, 2022—The shrinking value of the currencies of most developing economies is driving up food and fuel prices in ways that could deepen the food and energy crises that many of them already face, according to the World Bank’s latest Commodity Markets Outlook report.
East Asia prides itself on rapid economic progress over the past few decades with millions
lifted out of poverty. Between 2008 and 2018, real per capita GDP in the region grew at an average rate of 6.7 percent per year, significantly above the global average of 1.5 percent. Yet the extent of progress on poverty is exaggerated by the fact that poverty thresholds are set too low compared to other countries at similar income levels. This leads to policies which do not do justice to the scale of the problem. New numbers released by the World Bank using global benchmarks underscore this point.
Domestic food price inflation remains high around the world. Information between May to
September 2022 shows high inflation in almost all low-income and middle-income countries; 88.9% of low-income countries, 91.1% of lower-middle-income countries, and 96% of upper-middle-income countries have seen inflation levels above 5%, with many experiencing double-digit inflation. The share of high-income countries with high food price inflation has risen to 85.7%.
The COVID19
pandemic triggered a historic setback, pushing 70 million people into extreme poverty in 2020 – the largest one-year increase in three decades. The war in Ukraine deepened the global economic slowdown, which is now in its steepest decline following a post-recession recovery since 1970.
Higher prices are also impacting food security in some countries 
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2021—Energy prices soared in the third quarter of 2021 and are expected to remain elevated in 2022, adding to global inflationary pressures and potentially shifting economic growth to energy-exporting countries from energy-importing ones.
Expanding trade flows can be part of the solutions to global challenges, when accompanied by the right policies. World Bank President David Malpass and WTO Director General Ngozi Onkonjo-Iweala discussed how global trade has limited the extend of the current global recession and laid out the practical steps countries could take to spread the benefits of trade more widely. Trade costs, on average, are equal to a 114 percent tariff on imported goods in developing countries. Much of that burden on consumers is the result of inefficient border procedures and poor transportation infrastructure. Trade facilitation reforms and investment in infrastructure could give a big boost to trade within regions. Betty Maina, Kenya’s Minister of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development, spoke of how trade liberalization is a central part of her country’s aspirations for incomes and development.
“Trade can be a powerful catalyst for growth and social economic development and poverty reduction, particularly if we implement it with the poor in mind,” Maina said.
Leaders from the public and private sectors discussed the importance of investments in logistics and expanding trade finance that could strengthen the contribution of trade to economic recovery, and noted the ways that trade could help developing countries mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Ahead of the World Bank Group-IMF Annual Meetings, President Malpass delivers a speech in Khartoum, Sudan, entitled “Development in a Time of Upheaval. ” President Malpass will set out the major challenges and opportunities in building a resilient and inclusive recovery for all. He will look at the dynamics of recent global economic growth that have contributed to inequality and a reversal in development progress. President Malpass will also explore how to remove or confront obstacles to development such as high debt, high trade costs, and the diminished capacity of many middle-income countries following COVID-19.
The speech will be followed by a moderated discussion.
Informed decision making requires timely and relevant evidence. This holds for national 
decision makers as well as development practitioners. Here at the World Bank, we have been working on creative solutions that lower the cost of project monitoring and create feedback loops. These feedback loops allow decision makers to assess the impact of their actions and to plan course corrections where needed. They also serve as incentive to act, since most decision makers wish to avoid the possibility of their inaction being exposed in future rounds of feedback and data collection. Feedback loops thus improve development outcomes through two pathways: by providing timely and actionable information and by functioning as an accountability mechanism. SWIFT and IBM are two examples of new tools that make this kind of regular feedback affordable.
Published on http://www.worldbank.org, June 19, 2019
infrastructure disruptions are an everyday concern that affects people’s well-being, economic prospects, and quality of life.Infrastructure is at the heart of lives and livelihoods. It can enable schools and hospitals, businesses and industry, and access to jobs and prosperity. In developing countries, however, disruptions to infrastructure are an everyday concern, reducing opportunities for employment, hampering health and education, and limiting economic growth.
In low and middle-income countries, direct damages from natural hazards to power generation and transport alone cost $18 billion a year, cutting into the already scarce budget of road agencies and power utilities. But the main impact of natural shocks on infrastructure is through the disruptions they impose on people and communities, for instance, businesses unable to keep factories running or use the internet to take orders and process payments; or on the households that don’t have the water they need to prepare meals or on people unable to go to work, send children to school, or get to a hospital.
Netherlands for the World Bank 
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