Zoellick: ‘Spring Meetings a turning point for World Bank’

Bank President Robert Zoellick just gave his traditional pre-Spring Meetings briefing to the press, where he talked about a multipolar world economy and how the World Bank is changing to meet the needs of a new reality.

“Economic and political tectonic plates are shifting,” he said. Developing countries are key sources of demand for recovery from the crisis, and “over time, they can become multiple poles of growth.”

Zoellick said the Spring Meetings represent a turning point for the World Bank. Over the weekend, the institution’s 186 shareholders will be considering four issues:

• the first capital increase in more than 20 years
• whether to give developing countries a bigger say in the running the institution
• the Bank’s post-crisis strategy, and
• the most comprehensive reform program in the Bank’s history.

"Agreement on this package of measures, if successful, would represent a multilateral success story,” he said.

 
For more information:

• Spring Meetings press briefing—prepared remarks
• Financial resources website
• Meetings on Twitter
• Meetings on Flickr