Multilateral developments banks are key pillars of international development cooperation, providing development finance for sustainable development and investments and complementing developing countries' efforts to mobilize public resources domestically.
Together with multilateral developments banks, national development banks are critical for bridging the development finance gap - now estimated at over $4 trillion a year. However, non-concessional loans have accounted for almost 90 per cent of multilateral developments bank flows since the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) pandemic.
UNCTAD has called multilateral developments banks to scale up affordable development finance, which encompasses not only concessional loans and grants but also local currency loans.
Working together with national development banks, multilateral development banks can play a crucial role in ensuring that such affordable finance is directed to the Sustainable Development Goals and national development strategies.
This event will explore how multilateral developments banks, national development banks and policymakers from developing countries can coherently boost the provision of affordable development finance for national development strategies and policy, and thereby advance outcomes of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development.
Programme
Opening remarks: UNCTAD Secretary-General/Deputy Secretary- General
High-level panel and interactive discussion
Questions:
- How can concessional financing and grants of multilateral developments banks be scaled up?
- Which actions, including mechanisms to lower the cost of currency risk, could scale up multilateral developments banks’ local currency lending?
- How could the network of multilateral developments banks and national development banks be better leveraged?
- What are the best country models for linking multilateral developments bank lending to national development strategies?
Moderator: To be confirmed
