Latest news with #InternationalMonetaryFund
New Indian Express
25 minutes ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
World Bank and IMF climate snub 'worrying': COP29 presidency
BONNN: The hosts of the most recent UN climate talks are worried international lenders are retreating from their commitments to help boost funding for developing countries' response to global warming. This anxiety has grown as the Trump administration has slashed foreign aid and discouraged US-based development lenders like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund from focussing on climate finance. Developing nations, excluding China, will need an estimated $1.3 trillion a year by 2035 in financial assistance to transition to renewable energy and climate-proof their economies from increasing weather extremes. But nowhere near this amount has been committed. At last year's UN COP29 summit in Azerbaijan, rich nations agreed to increase climate finance to $300 billion a year by 2035, an amount decried as woefully inadequate. Azerbaijan and Brazil, which is hosting this year's COP30 conference, have launched an initiative to plug the shortfall that includes expectations of "significant" contributions from international lenders. But so far only two -- the African Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank -- have responded to a call to engage the initiative with ideas, said COP29 president Mukhtar Babayev. "We call on their shareholders to urgently help us to address these concerns," he told climate negotiators at a high-level summit in the German city of Bonn this week. "We fear that a complex and volatile global environment is distracting" many of those expected to play a big role in bridging the climate finance gap, he added. His team travelled to Washington in April for the IMF and World Bank's spring meetings hoping to find the same enthusiasm for climate lending they had encountered a year earlier. But instead they found institutions "very much reluctant now to talk about climate at all", said Azerbaijan's top climate negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev. This was a "worrisome trend", he said, given expectations these lenders would extend the finance needed in the absence of other sources. "They're very much needed," he said. The United States, the World Bank's biggest shareholder, has sent a different message. On the sidelines of the April spring meetings, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged the bank to focus on "dependable technologies" rather than "distortionary climate finance targets." This could mean investing in gas and other fossil fuel-based energy production, he said.
Business Standard
37 minutes ago
- Business
- Business Standard
EUR/USD tests one-week low before rebound, IMF warns Europe could face risk of economic stagnation
EUR/USD is witnessing a good rebound today after testing one-week low. The pair has recovered as the US Dollar loses ground and risk appetite is slowly picking up in global equities. Euro was hit earlier as International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that Europe could face the risk of economic stagnation if it does not take urgent measures to address slowing economic growth, weak investment, and escalating geopolitical threats. The IMF stated that barriers in the European single market are hindering economic development and recommended deepening the EU single market and increasing fiscal budgets. However, while translates into a cautious medium-term outlook for the Euro, near term dynamics are being dominated by geopolitics and some cautiousness ahead o Traders now await fresh US manufacturing and leading economic data. EUR/USD pair is currently quoting at 1.1583, up 0.34% on the day. On the NSE, EUR/INR futures are quoting at 99.86, up 0.24% on the day in an overall tight session.
Int'l Business Times
2 hours ago
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
World Bank And IMF Climate Snub 'Worrying': COP29 Presidency
The hosts of the most recent UN climate talks are worried international lenders are retreating from their commitments to help boost funding for developing countries' response to global warming. This anxiety has grown as the Trump administration has slashed foreign aid and discouraged US-based development lenders like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund from focussing on climate finance. Developing nations, excluding China, will need an estimated $1.3 trillion a year by 2035 in financial assistance to transition to renewable energy and climate-proof their economies from increasing weather extremes. But nowhere near this amount has been committed. At last year's UN COP29 summit in Azerbaijan, rich nations agreed to increase climate finance to $300 billion a year by 2035, an amount decried as woefully inadequate. Azerbaijan and Brazil, which is hosting this year's COP30 conference, have launched an initiative to plug the shortfall that includes expectations of "significant" contributions from international lenders. But so far only two -- the African Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank -- have responded to a call to engage the initiative with ideas, said COP29 president Mukhtar Babayev. "We call on their shareholders to urgently help us to address these concerns," he told climate negotiators at a high-level summit in the German city of Bonn this week. "We fear that a complex and volatile global environment is distracting" many of those expected to play a big role in bridging the climate finance gap, he added. His team travelled to Washington in April for the IMF and World Bank's spring meetings hoping to find the same enthusiasm for climate lending they had encountered a year earlier. But instead they found institutions "very much reluctant now to talk about climate at all", said Azerbaijan's top climate negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev. This was a "worrisome trend", he said, given expectations these lenders would extend the finance needed in the absence of other sources. "They're very much needed," he said. The United States, the World Bank's biggest shareholder, has sent a different message. On the sidelines of the April spring meetings, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged the bank to focus on "dependable technologies" rather than "distortionary climate finance targets." This could mean investing in gas and other fossil fuel-based energy production, he said. Under the Paris Agreement, wealthy developed countries -- those most responsible for global warming to date -- are obligated to pay climate finance to poorer nations. But other countries, most notably China, do make their own voluntary contributions. Finance is a source of long-running tensions at UN climate negotiations. Donors have consistently failed to deliver on past finance pledges, and committed well below what experts agree developing nations need to prepare for the climate crisis. The issue flared again this week in Bonn, with nations at odds over whether to debate financial commitments from rich countries during the formal meetings. European nations have also pared back their foreign aid spending in recent months, raising fears that budgets for climate finance could also face a haircut. At COP29, multilateral development banks (MDBs) led by the World Bank Group estimated they could provide $120 billion annually in climate financing to low and middle income countries, and mobilise another $65 billion from the private sector by 2030. Their estimate for high income countries was $50 billion, with another $65 billion mobilised from the private sector. Rob Moore, of policy think tank E3G, said these lenders are the largest providers of international public finance to developing countries. "Whilst they are facing difficult political headwinds in some quarters, they would be doing both themselves and their clients a disservice by disengaging on climate change," he said. The World Bank in particular has done "a huge amount of work" to align its lending with global climate goals. "If they choose to step back this would be at their own detriment, and other banks like the regionally based MDBs would likely play a bigger role in shaping the economy of the future," he said. The World Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Star
7 hours ago
- Business
- The Star
Bank Negara's international reserves edge up to US$119.9bil
KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara's international reserves rose to US$119.9bil as at June 13 compared with US$119.6bil as at May 30. 'The reserves position is sufficient to finance 5.0 months of imports of goods and services, and is 0.9 times the total short-term external debt,' the central bank said in a statement. The main components of the reserves were foreign currency reserves (US$106.7bil), the International Monetary Fund reserves position (US$1.3bil), special drawing rights (US$5.8bil), gold (US$3.8bil) and other reserve assets (US$2.3bil).
New Straits Times
8 hours ago
- Business
- New Straits Times
Bank Negara's international reserves rise to US$119.9bil
KUALA LUMPUR: The international reserves of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) increased marginally to US$119.9 billion (US$1=RM4.24) as at June 13, 2025, from US$119.60 billion recorded as at May 30, 2025. In a statement today, the central bank said the reserves position is sufficient to finance 5.0 months of imports of goods and services, and is 0.9 times the total short-term external debt. The main components of the reserves were foreign currency reserves (US$106.7 billion), the International Monetary Fund reserve position (US$1.3 billion), special drawing rights (SDRs) (US$5.8 billion), gold (US$3.8 billion) and other reserve assets (US$2.3 billion). Total assets amounted to RM630.55 billion, comprising gold and foreign exchange and other reserves, including SDRs (RM531.12 billion), Malaysian government papers (RM12.91 billion), deposits with financial institutions (RM4.26 million), loans and advances (RM27.08 billion), land and buildings (RM4.58 billion), and other assets (RM50.57 billion). BNM said total capital and liabilities amounted to RM630.55 billion, comprising paid-up capital (RM100 million), reserves (RM194.93 billion), currency in circulation (RM172.73 billion), deposits by financial institutions (RM127.93 billion), federal government deposits (RM10.53 billion), other deposits (RM82.23 billion), Bank Negara papers (RM10.55 billion), allocation of SDRs (RM28.38 billion), and other liabilities (RM3.13 billion).
