Developing economies must get ready to cope with possible turbulence: World Bank official

Urging countries to accelerate reforms, interim president Georgieva said from the Bank's perspective, this is particularly critical for investing in human capital, lowering barriers to higher investments and boost positivity.

There is an urgency for emerging markets and developing economies to get ready to cope with possible turbulence, a top World Bank official has said as she called on the governments to concentrate more on their debt management practices and accelerate the pace of reforms.

Kristalina Georgieva, the World Bank’s CEO, said the global growth is moderating from 3 per cent to 2.9 per cent in 2019. That is still a robust growth performance. “But what we see happening are troubling signs in terms of international trade and manufacturing activities,” she said.

“In this more challenging environment, there is an urgency for emerging markets and developing economies to get ready to cope with possible turbulence and to build fiscal and monetary space, to build policy buffers,” she said in a conference call with journalists on the occasion of the release of the Global Economic Prospects report.

She said the governments have to concentrate more on their debt management practices, especially in countries where this is already a serious concern.