"Post-war reconstruction financed mainly by loans creates unsustainable debt; grants must dominate"

"these countries nearly doubled from fiscal years 2016 to 2021. To address forced displacement, we help countries support refugees, internally displaced people, and host communities through concessional financing, social protection programs, and economic development (see more on page 49). Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the World Bank Group has leveraged our broad range of financing instruments to rapidly disburse funds while also mobilizing financing and support from donor partners. We have mobilized more than $37.5 billion in emergency financing for Ukraine by providing platforms for generous support from donors and international partners to supplement our own resources. This financing helps the government meet urgent budget needs, support essential public services, and address critical recovery and repair needs. By the end of fiscal 2023, we had disbursed nearly $23 billion. This support has reached 13 million Ukrainians, helping provide wages for essential employees, pensions for the elderly, and social programs for the vulnerable (see more on page 31). A mounting debt crisis is making it harder for countries to confront these chal lenges. Total debt in developing countries is at the highest level in 50 years—about 60 percent of the poorest countries are at extreme risk of debt distress, if not already facing it, and the danger is spreading to many middle-income countries. This trend has been further exacerbated by rising interest rates, depreciating currencies, and slowing global growth. The World Bank supports comprehensive, long-term solu tions for countries dealing with unsustainable debt levels. This includes our support for the G20’s Common Framework, targeted relief for countries in debt distress, and measures to enhance accountability and debt transparency. We also co-chair the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable with the IMF and the G20 Presidency of India to address barriers to debt restructuring (see more on page 46). As these and other challenges evolve, the World Bank Group is finding ways to better support countries, strengthen our response to crises, and reverse the pre cipitous decline in economic growth, poverty reduction, and human development. We are working closely with governments, civil society, the private sector, and other stakeholders to hone our vision and enhance our mission to better aid a rapidly changing world. Ultimately, we expect to promote even more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth as we embark on a new era in development. 2023 SUMMARY RESULTS 11 World Bank Group Institutions World Bank Group Financing for Partner Countries TABLE 1 WORLD BANK GROUP COMMITMENTS, DISBURSEMENTS, AND GROSS ISSUANCE BY FISCAL YEAR, MILLIONS OF DOLLARS 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 WORLD BANK GROUP Commitmentsa 68,105 83,547 98,830 104,370 128,341 Disbursementsb 49,395 54,367 60,596 67,041 91,391 IBRD Commitmentsc 23,191 27,976 30,523 33,072 38,572 Disbursements 20,182 20,238 23,691 28,168 25,504 IDA Commitmentsc,d 21,932 30,365 36,028 37,727 34,245 Disbursementsd 17,549 21,179 22,921 21,214 27,718 IFC Commitmentse 14,684 17,604 20,669 22,229 27,704 Disbursements 9,074 10,518 11,438 13,198 18,689 MIGA Gross issuance"

"by only 0.5 percent in 2023, after contracting by 30 percent in 2022. The World Bank Group has leveraged our broad range of financing instruments to rapidly disburse funds. We have expanded existing projects, established multi donor trust funds, and channeled guarantees and parallel financing from donor countries. Since the start of the invasion, we have mobilized more than $37.5 billion in emergency financing by providing platforms for generous support from donors and international partners that have supplemented our own resources to help the government meet urgent budget needs and support essential public services— about half of all economic assistance mobilized for Ukraine. We had disbursed nearly $23 billion by the end of the fiscal 2023. This support has reached 10 million pensioners, 500,000 education staff, 145,000 government employees, 56,000 first responders, and more than 3 mil lion internally displaced persons and recipients of social assistance. The Bank has deployed a range of mechanisms—including expenditure verification, beneficiary- complaint monitoring, procedure reviews, and surveys—to ensure that money goes where it is intended. We are helping restore access to essential health services, administering 2 million doses of childhood vaccinations and providing more than 500,000 people with free or low-cost medicines. Nearly 70,000 people accessed critical rehabilitation services to address both mental and physical trauma, while 2,300 physicians were trained on how to address gender-based violence, which has escalated during the war. In March, the World Bank released the updated Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment for Ukraine, which emphasized the need for both public and private funds to address an estimated $411 billion in reconstruction and recovery costs over the next 10 years. The highest estimated needs are in transport, housing, energy, social protection and livelihoods, explosive-hazard management, and agriculture. To support recovery and build capacity for reconstruction, the Bank devised an innovative “framework” project approach to disburse funds quickly and be scal able as more financing becomes available. Through this approach, we are helping Ukraine strengthen primary health care and address greater demand for mental health and rehabilitation services due to the war. Our energy project is helping repair the country’s electricity transmission and heating infrastructure—half of which was damaged this past winter—by urgently procuring critical equipment. We are also helping Ukraine restore its transport network—which was disrupted in more than 21,000 villages, 51 towns, and 35 cities—by repairing bridges and railways to relink communities, support immedi ate humanitarian relief and recovery, and increase capacity of import and export corridors. These projects are supported by the Bank’s Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction, and Reform Trust Fund, which channels and leverages grant contri butions from donor partners. In addition to our investments, we provide advice on policies and reforms and structuring viable projects, all of which can mobilize private capital to help Ukraine on its path to a sustainable future. These efforts strive to help Ukraine’s government, the international community, and the private sector work together to rebuild the country after the war ends. Spotlight 32 THE WORLD BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2023 Latin America and the Caribbean O ver the past year, Latin America and the Caribbean largely recovered from recent GDP losses, with COVID-19 having receded and employment back to pre-pandemic levels. The region’s economy grew by an estimated 3.7 percent in 2022, but recovery growth prospects have turned bleak, estimated to be 1.5 percent in 2023 and 2.0 percent in 2024. Poverty has also gone down to pre-pandemic levels. Ex"