Statement by H.E. Paulo Guedes - On behalf of Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Philippines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago - 101st Meeting of the Development Committee

Jul 19, 2026

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Statement delivered by H.E. Paulo Guedes, Minister of Finance of Brazil, on behalf of multiple countries at the 101st Development Committee meeting. It addresses the public health and socioeconomic costs of the Covid-19 pandemic, highlights World Bank Group lending and project support, and outlines national fiscal and monetary stimulus measures. It emphasizes the need for coordinated global action, careful debt management for low-income countries, and medium-term recovery through resilience, growth-friendly reforms, and protection of sound economic and policy principles.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages3

Reading Time8 min

AccessFree to download

101st Meeting of the Development Committee

Covid-19 challenges and response costs

World Bank Group support and priority areas

National fiscal and monetary measures

Call for global coordination and multilateral action

Debt burdens and liquidity needs in low-income countries

Recovery path: resilience, growth, and reforms

Preserving sound economic and policy concepts

Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized ## DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE (Joint Ministerial Committeeof the Boards of Governors of the Bank and the Fundon theTransfer of Real Resources to Developing Countries) ONE HUNDRED AND ONE MEETINGWASHINGTON,DC-APRIL17,2020(VIRTUAL) DC/S/2020-0013 April 17,2020 ## Statement by H.E.Paulo GuedesMinister of Finance Brazil ## On behalf of Brazil,Colombia,Dominican Republic,Ecuador,Haiti,Panama,Philippines,Suriname,and Trinidad and Tobago Statement by H.E.Paulo GuedesMinister of Finance Brazil on behalf of Brazil,Colombia,Dominican Republic,Ecuador,Haiti,Panama,Philippines,Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago # 101ᵗMeeting of the Development Committee April 17,2020 Washington,DC (VIRTUAL) The world is living the greatest challenge of our lifetimes.The Covid-19 pandemic threatens human lives,poses huge challenges to health care systems,and has multifaceted economic impacts.Both the healthconsequences of the virus and socioeconomic spillovers of the necessary-yet extreme -response imposeenormous costs to our people.This means we are already taking,and will have to continue to take,manymeasures unimaginable months ago.This has been true for national governments,companies and families,and increasingly true for international organizations such as the World Bank Group. We have already seen that the Bank is capable of performing under pressure in these trying times.Numerousprojects,which address some of the most acute health-related problems of Covid-19,have just beenapproved by WBG and other IFIs.Billions in lending,in facilitated conditions,are helping low and middle-income countries.The areas involved are crucial:medical training,public outreach,early detection andtracing.Two countries in our constituency have been contemplated with projects;we expect others tofollow. Individual countries are also stepping up with ambitious approaches.For many in our constituency,fiscalconsolidation was one of the top priorities.However,the unprecedent size of the Covid-19 challenge meansthat,while maintaining fiscal responsibility as our compass,temporary fiscal and monetary stimuli areabsolutely necessary to protect families,businesses and institutions.These measures include cash transfersto the most vulnerable,public health investments,unemployment insurance,tax deferral programs,interestcuts,liquidity injections,among many other initiatives,and depending on each country's constraints. Fighting the pandemic,however,should not depend exclusively on each individual country's resources.Asa true global public good in an ever-interconnected world,the fight against the Covid-19must be conductedby all countries,therefore the World Bank Group should keep helping all clients in this endeavor.Whilewe can envisage no partial solution for this unprecedent global crisis,we encourage the membership andmanagement of the WBG to keep exploring bold and innovative actions.We call on the IMF and WorldBank to work closely and join forces with other multilateral organizations and we hope to see concertedefforts in introducing the best strategies,especially for low-and middle-income countries to combat thiscrisis. Even before the pandemic,many countries were struggling with their debt burden.The expenditures neededto fight the virus have greatly increased such burden to the point that we are now assessing what would bethe best approach to deal with their immediate liquidity needs.We welcome this debate and look forward to a deep examination of the debt scenario in low-income countries.This discussion should be taken in themost appropriate international fora and in coordination with all creditors. We should not only concentrate on short term responses;we must also pave our way to recovery.It iscrucial to enhance resilience and improve our response capacity.This path to recovery includes removingall barriers to growth.Many of the rules and regulations existing today were created w

FAQs

What is the main focus of the statement at the Development Committee meeting?

The statement focuses on the health and economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the required response at national and global levels.

What types of actions does the statement highlight for addressing Covid-19?

It highlights World Bank Group lending for health-related projects and national measures such as temporary fiscal and monetary stimuli, cash transfers, public health investment, and unemployment insurance.

How does the statement propose handling debt and supporting recovery?

It welcomes examining the debt scenario and immediate liquidity needs in low-income countries, while also stressing resilience, removing growth barriers, and pursuing reforms to support recovery.

Jul 19, 2026

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