WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) – The World Bank Group said on Wednesday it would consolidate its loan and investment guarantee structure as part of its goal to triple its annual guarantees to $20 billion by 2030 to boost private renewable energy investments in developing countries.
The reforms, announced on the sidelines of a G20 finance leaders meeting in Sao Paulo, Brazil, would move all of the guarantee experts from across the World Bank’s business units into a single platform.
The bank said the changes, to start on July 1, would provide “a seamless experience for clients and easier access to the full suite of guarantees” and speed approvals.
World Bank President Ajay Banga said the $20 billion annual guarantee target over the next five to six years was a somewhat arbitrary figure meant to show ambition to expand these products.
“Our ambition is to go in quantum number from where we are today,” Banga told a news briefing, adding that capital adequacy would need to be reviewed.
“So don’t think of this as a cap that is imposed by the bank,” Banga said. “If you want to get to three times where we are today, the quicker we get there, the better we do it, the happier we’ll be, and the more ambitious we’ll be about the next step.”
The World Bank Group currently provides guarantees on about $6.8 billion worth of loans and investment contracts annually across its business units, including the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the private-sector International Finance Corp and its main International Bank for Reconstruction and Development lending arm.
