WORLD BANK / COVID-19 IMPACT AND RECOVERY

World Bank Group President David Malpass detailed the impacts of COVID-19 on developing countries, saying they were experiencing “a double impact” – vulnerable to health risks, but also suffering from a lack of resources to protect their economies. WORLD BANK

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:03:09
• Production Date: 28 May 2020
• Asset Language: English
• Personal Subject: DAVID MALPASS
• Corporate Name: WORLD BANK
• Subject Topical: DEVELOPING COUNTRIES; DISEASE CONTROL; ECONOMIC SITUATION
• MAMS Id: 2546674
• Parent Id: 2546674
• Alternate Title: unifeed200528a

Description

STORY: WORLD BANK / COVID-19 IMPACT AND RECOVERY
TRT: 3:09
SOURCE: WORLD BANK
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WORLD BANK ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 27 MAY 2020, WASHINGTON, DC

Shotlist

1. Exterior shot, World Bank Headquarters
2. Split screen, Malpass and interviewer
3. SOUNDBITE (English) David Malpass, President, World Bank Group:
“It's a double impact. They're vulnerable to the pandemic - to COVID-19 itself - and people are dying in the countries. But then this added problem is they just don't have the resources and the capacity in order to protect their economies.”
4. Exterior shot, World Bank Headquarters
5. SOUNDBITE (English) David Malpass, President, World Bank Group:
“So, what we are trying to do is create programs that are as helpful as possible to the to the countries, and this means tailoring the programs to different countries. Some of the countries have the ability to pass cash to people - to poor people - through a safety net. That's similar to what advanced countries have. So, in those cases, we can push - we can put money through those systems. And it really keeps people out of extreme poverty.”
6. Exterior shot, World Bank Headquarters
7. SOUNDBITE (English) David Malpass, President, World Bank Group:
“One problem is that the governments of developing countries are seeing their revenues go down a lot. That's their tax revenues and their revenues from tariffs from from trade, for example. And and so what that means is whatever level of debt they had prior to the crisis is more burdensome. So we're addressing that with - by providing more resources, by the moratorium on payments that that we talked about earlier - that the G20 countries, the biggest countries, have been generous in saying that the poorest countries don't need to pay them back for their official debt. That that saves money for the developing country, but also means that new investments have some breathing room in order to grow, going forward.”
8. Exterior shot, World Bank Headquarters
9. SOUNDBITE (English) David Malpass, President, World Bank Group:
“As countries think about how to build back, having a lower carbon footprint is an opportunity. Oil prices are low now. It's a chance for people to change their systems and improve their systems so that they work better in the future.”
10. Exterior shot, World Bank Headquarters
11. SOUNDBITE (English) David Malpass, President, World Bank Group:
“But I think we have to recognize the reality that with the world entering a severe recession, one of the - there's urgency in these tasks that I've talked about because the poverty levels are rising. It's the first time since 1998 - that was the Asian crisis - the first time now again, that the poverty levels are going up instead of down. And that has severe consequences. So that drives the World Bank forward and I hope drives the developing countries forward to create a better, stronger environment.”
12. Exterior shot, World Bank Headquarters

Storyline

World Bank Group President David Malpass detailed the impacts of COVID-19 on developing countries, saying they were experiencing “a double impact” – vulnerable to health risks, but also suffering from a lack of resources to protect their economies.

“It's a double impact,” said Malpass. “They're vulnerable to the pandemic - to COVID-19 itself - and people are dying in the countries. But then this added problem is they just don't have the resources and the capacity in order to protect their economies.”

He also said: “So, what we are trying to do is create programs that are as helpful as possible to the to the countries, and this means tailoring the programs to different countries. Some of the countries have the ability to pass cash to people - to poor people - through a safety net. That's similar to what advanced countries have. So, in those cases, we can push - we can put money through those systems. And it really keeps people out of extreme poverty.”

Malpass noted that poverty levels were rising for the first time since 1998 as a result of the crisis but said that countries had the opportunity to enact a sustainable recovery.

“As countries think about how to build back, having a lower carbon footprint is an opportunity. Oil prices are low now. It's a chance for people to change their systems and improve their systems so that they work better in the future,” he said.