IMF, World Bank warn over financial risk to developing countries

13/10/2008 18:26:02

The heads of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have assured developing countries that their needs won't be forgotten in efforts to tackle the financial crisis.

World Bank head Robert Zoellick says they won't allow the crisis to put recent economic gains in the developing world at risk.

He says governments must not reject commitments to boost overseas assistance to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn says the financial crisis adds to the existing problems of rising food and energy prices in poor countries.

The banking system in poorer countries could face volatility because of links with banks in the developed world which have been pushed to the brink by the crisis destroying their capital.

With donor aid programs under pressure due to the financial crisis, the World Bank estimates that up to 100 hundred million people are at risk of falling into poverty because of higher food and energy prices.

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