The Path Forward: David Malpass, President, World Bank Group

David Malpass is the president of the World Bank Group and the former Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for International Affairs. Washington Post columnist David Ignatius speaks with Malpass about the global financial impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the latest on the effect of sanctions against Russia and what support is being offered to the people of the region as economic and human toll escalates.

Highlights

“We can see there’s a massive impact… It extands from energy and food supplies to the long-run problems of rebuilding or of rteconstruction of the destruction that’s going on in Ukraine. So in addition to our horror at the human catastrophe, we have to look at the global economy and see that it’s a big negative.” – David Malpass (Video: Washington Post Live)

“Their per capita income has fallen below China’s; China’s has risen above Russia’s, and so it’s not as big a factor in global GDP… and it will slow down massively as a result of the sanctions.” – David Malpass (Video: Washington Post Live)

“The consequences are far-reaching. They’re severe for Russia as a nation and they’re extending to the people of Russia as a direct result of the devaluation of the ruble.” – David Malpass (Video: Washington Post Live)

“From our own funds, we’ve been able to begin the disbursements. We actually made disbursements last week of $325 million and we have a press release going out today showing that we now have $923 million that’s been made available over the last two weeks, including that first disbursement, for Ukraine. The key element here is the ability to disperse quickly… We’re trying to do it very efficiently for the benefit of Ukraine.” – David Malpass (Video: Washington Post Live)

David Malpass

President, World Bank Group