Spring meetings show multilateral strain

At the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings in Washington, officials pushed job creation as the main answer to weaker growth and a more fractured global economy. (worldbank.org) The World Bank said the meetings ran April 13-18 and centered on “creating jobs and driving growth through better policies,” with sessions on energy, water, agriculture, health and women’s economic participation. (worldbank.org) The International Monetary Fund came in with a darker backdrop. Its April 14 World Economic Outlook said the global economy had been hit again by war in the Middle East, with slowing growth, renewed inflation pressures and less room for governments to absorb shocks. (imf.org) That mix left developing countries facing two pressures at once: less aid and costlier finance. The United Nations said official development assistance fell 23% in 2025 after a 6% drop in 2024, while debt service in developing countries reached 20-year highs in 2024. (un.org) World Bank President Ajay Banga used the week to argue that jobs now sit at the center of development policy, and the bank’s public program tied that agenda to infrastructure, skills, health systems and private capital. (worldbank.org) At the same time, some governments signaled they do not want the old borrower-creditor script. Indonesia’s finance minister, Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, said the IMF and World Bank had offered $25 billion to $30 billion in loans and that Jakarta turned them down. (tempo.co) Purbaya said Indonesia did not need assistance because its budget position was sufficient and it still had a Rp 420 trillion buffer, according to Tempo’s report on April 15 and a follow-up on April 22. (tempo.co) Another sign of that shift came on April 15, when finance ministers and central bank governors from developing countries launched a Borrowers’ Platform on the sidelines of the meetings. The initiative is member state-led, with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development serving as secretariat. (unctad.org) Egyptian Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk was named alongside Pakistan’s finance minister at the launch, and reporting from the meetings said Egypt will serve as the inaugural chair. The platform is meant to help borrowing countries coordinate debt management and speak more collectively in restructurings and financing talks. (unctad.org) (zawya.com) United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told the launch that the financial system remains “deeply unfair” to poorer countries and urged more eligible states to join the new platform. (un.org) By the close of the week, the message from Washington was split between institution-led fixes and borrower-led pushback: more jobs, more policy reform, and a louder demand from developing countries for terms they help shape. (worldbank.org) (news.un.org)