A cashier displays multiple denomination US dollar and British pound Sterling bank notes for a photograph inside a currency exchange store in central London on October 4, 2016.
The pound slumped to a 31-year low against the dollar Tuesday, sinking to $1.2740 — its lowest level since 1985 — on concerns over the timing and terms of Britain’s planned exit from the European Union, traders said. Britain’s currency also struck a fresh three-year low point against the euro, while the drops helped pushed London’s benchmark FTSE 100 stocks index up to a 16-month high beyond 7,000 points at the open. / AFP PHOTO / NIKLAS HALLE’N
WASHINGTON, United States — World Bank lending to countries like China that are rich enough to finance their own development hurts poor countries that need help, a senior US Treasury official said Wednesday.
David Malpass, Treasury’s undersecretary for International Affairs, cited China as a prime example of the practice, as the World Bank’s biggest borrower with $2.4 billion in loans this year.
The Trump administration will push the World Bank to move countries towards graduation, as their economies grow and they are able to access private sources of financing, he told a House subcommittee.
“Many graduation-eligible countries, even those with strong market access, have continued to demand (World Bank) financing,” he said in prepared testimony. “Adherence to the graduation policy has progressively weakened.”
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Malpass said that since 2009, countries eligible for graduation from World Bank aid have received, on average, 40 percent of the institution’s lending. Currently 25 countries have incomes above the graduation threshold, and six are considered high income, exceeding $12,475 per capita.
In addition, the World Bank has failed to follow its own guidance and pursue discussions with countries ready to graduate, to phase them out of the lending program.
