World Bank Governor's Statement No. 5 - October 17, 2025 - Statement by KATSUNOBU KATO

Jul 19, 2026

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Outlines Governor Katsunobu Kato’s statement for Japan at the 2025 Annual Meetings, addressing an uncertain global outlook shaped by trade measures, geopolitical risks, technological change, climate impacts, and demographic shifts. Calls for adapting to a fluid global economic order while strengthening national resilience, shared rulemaking, and layered international frameworks. Emphasizes Japan’s position on ending Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, supports Ukraine’s reform efforts via the World Bank Group and IMF programs, and describes Japan’s growth-oriented economic transition through productivity and real wage increases.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

I. The Global Economy and the Japanese Economy

Uncertainty, transformation, and international economic order

Ukraine and support through the WBG and IMF

Japan’s growth-oriented economic transition

II. Expectations for the WBG and the IMF

Expectations for the WBG

Capital adequacy, lending capacity, and One WBG approach

Private capital mobilization and MDB efficiency

Voice reforms and incorporation of developing-country voices

Universal Health Coverage and health financing support

Resilient infrastructure and climate-related procurement reforms

RISE Partnership for supply-chain enhancement

Expectations for the IMF

Reinforcing governance and function review to meet member needs

Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized World Bank Governor's Statement No. 5 October 17, 2025 Statement by the Hon. KATSUNOBU KATO, Governor of the IBRD for JAPAN Statement by the Hon. Katsunobu Kato, Governor of the IBRD for Japan I. THE GLOBAL ECONOMY AND THE JAPANESE ECONOMY The outlook of the global economy is uncertain due to trade measures and geopolitical tensions, constraining the behavior of businesses and consumers. In addition, long-term structural transformations, including accelerated technological innovations, intensified climate change, and demographic shifts , are arising. As the global economic and trade order becomes increasingly fluid, we must adapt to the reality while working to shape a new order. To this end, countries should enhance their own economic and social resilience through their self-help efforts, seek rules that can be shared among nations that hold diverse values, and build a multi-layered international economic system encompassing bilateral, regional, and plurilateral frameworks. In this regard, Russia’s protracted and illegal aggression against Ukraine remains a serious risk factor for the entire global economy and an obstacle to rebuilding an orderly international economic system. Japan strongly calls for an immediate end of the aggression by Russia and an achievement of a just and lasting peace. We remain committed to supporting Ukraine centered around the World Bank Group (WBG) and the IMF programs and will continue to back Ukraine’s efforts in domestic reforms. Japan’s economy is transitioning toward a "growth-oriented economy" driven by wage increases and investment. To ensure this momentum, Japan aims to raise productivity and added value, while realizing a stable increase in real wages. II. EXPECTATIONS FOR THE WBG AND THE IMF The public financial resources and development assistance required for countries to address increasingly diverse and complex challenges through their own efforts remain limited. In light of these circumstances, it is of utmost importance that the WBG functions with efficiency and effectiveness as the core of multilateral development banks (MDBs) , and that the IMF’s role as the center of the global financial safety net (GFSN) be reinforced. 1) EXPECTATIONS FOR THE WBG From the perspective of efficient utilization of existing capital, Japan welcomes the WBG’s expansion of lending capacity through efforts based on the recommendations of the Capital Adequacy Framework (CAF) review. We look forward to this enhanced lending capacity being used to provide sufficient support to countries that are truly in need. To maximize development impact, it is important that all WBG institutions collaborate organically under the One WBG approach. In particular, given the limited availability of public financial resources for development assistance, private capital mobilization is increasingly necessary. We expect the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) to play a more active role in this regard. To enhance the efficiency of MDBs, it is important that they function as a system. Japan welcomes the approval of the first co-implemented project under the Full Mutual Reliance Framework between the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) last month, and we hope such initiatives will be expanded to other MDBs. To provide efficient and effective support, it is important for the WBG to better incorporate the voices of developing countries in its operations. To this end, Japan looks forward to WBG promptly working on Voice reforms and to implement concrete reforms such as enhancing the capacity of Executive Directors’ offices and strengthening their engagement with WBG management and staff. To this end, Japan is committed to making the necessary contributions. On global health, it is important to promote Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in tandem with the effort to strength

FAQs

What major global factors are cited as driving uncertainty in the outlook?

Trade measures and geopolitical tensions constrain businesses and consumers, while structural transformations include faster technological innovation, intensified climate change, and demographic shifts.

What is Japan’s stance regarding Russia’s aggression against Ukraine?

Japan calls for an immediate end to the aggression and achievement of a just and lasting peace, and remains committed to supporting Ukraine through World Bank Group and IMF-centered programs.

What priorities does Japan highlight for the World Bank Group and the IMF?

Japan stresses efficiency and effectiveness of the WBG as a core multilateral development bank, reinforcement of the IMF’s role in the global financial safety net, and governance/function reviews to adapt to evolving needs.

Jul 19, 2026

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