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The World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings for 2025 are taking place in Washington, D.C., October 13–18, at the World Bank Group and IMF headquarters. The meetings bring together the international community to discuss global economic challenges and opportunities, with a focus on creating jobs and driving sustainable growth, according to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and World Bank.
 
Meanwhile, with prices at record highs, the IMF should use its gold reserves to fund much-needed support for developing countries.

By Michael Galant and Ivana Vasic-Lalovic
WASHINGTON DC, Oct 15 2025 (IPS)

Countries across the Global South face an accelerating climate crisis, tepid growth, and unsustainable levels of debt. Yet hopes of finding support at the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Annual Meetings in Washington are dim. The IMF is tightening its purse strings — even as it leaves untouched a vast treasure of more than 3,000 tons of gold that offers a prime opportunity to stabilize the global economy.

While IMF lending yielded record income in FY2024, fears that Trump will cut off funding — combined with the organization’s exposure on an ill-advised,
US-directed mega-loan to Argentina — have prompted the Fund to reassess its assistance to those most in need.

At last year’s meetings, the IMF implemented a system of tiered interest rates on loans made through the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) — a formerly interest-free lending facility for low-income countries.

The Fund also elected to maintain (if slightly modify) its controversial “surcharge” policy, which generates revenue for the IMF by charging onerous fees to highly indebted middle-income countries. Income from surcharges is now effectively being used to fund the PRGT, forcing these distressed countries to
subsidize the Fund’s concessional lending.

Yet while the IMF squeezes financing from the very countries it is meant to support, it is, in fact, sitting on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of idle firepower.

When the Fund was founded in 1944, members were required to pay at least a quarter of their initial contribution in gold, which at the time was the foundation of the global monetary order. The gold standard is long gone, but the IMF still holds 90.5 million ounces — or over 3,000 tons — of the precious metal, historically held at the central banks of major shareholders.

Critically, this gold is still on the IMF’s books at a price determined in 1944: roughly $48 per ounce. This year, amid geopolitical uncertainty and increased demand from central banks, prices soared to all-time highs; for the first time ever, gold prices now exceed $4,000 per ounce.

In other words, the IMF’s gold reserves are worth over 85 times more than its accounting would suggest.

Selling just 1.5 percent of these holdings would cover the income generated from all surcharge payments through 2030. Selling 10 percent would cover the PRGT’s entire current lending envelope for a decade.

There’s precedent for such a move. In 1999, when gold was $282 per ounce, the IMF sold about 444 tons of gold directly to IMF members, who immediately returned it at the same price in fulfillment of outstanding debts.

The IMF was thus left with the same quantity of gold holdings, but with about $3 billion in profit to provide debt relief for low-income countries as a part of the celebrated Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative.

In 2009, with gold prices still less than a third of today’s, the IMF board agreed to sell an eighth of its holdings outright, generating $15 billion in proceeds, a portion of which was transferred to the PRGT.

So, what’s stopping the IMF from doing the same today?

An agreement to sell gold reserves requires an 85 percent vote of the IMF board. As the proceeds from gold sales are, by default, distributed to IMF members in proportion to their quotas, a sale to bolster IMF lending power would require prior commitment from members to return their share of the windfall. But these political hurdles have been cleared before, in both 1999 and 2009.

While the US, which alone holds an effective veto over major IMF decisions, would have to agree to any arrangement, it’s difficult to see a cause for objection. Strengthening global economic stability — and therefore demand for US exports — at no new cost to the United States should hardly run afoul of an “America First” agenda.

Moreover, common concerns about the impacts of a sale on the gold market mean little in today’s context. With prices at record highs, the market can easily weather any price drops from an IMF sell-off, which can in any case be mitigated through the use of phased sales and off-market transactions.

And while some have historically fretted over the prudence of selling off a portion of the institution’s “rainy day” fund, selling while prices are sky-high makes good financial sense, and would easily leave plenty for future need.

Even if the political challenges to a gold sale prove insurmountable, there may still be a way to unlock its benefits; the IMF can simply revalue its gold holdings to match the market price, thus increasing the assets on its books without conducting even a single transaction.

Germany, Italy, and South Africa have all recently taken similar actions with their national gold holdings, and there is some speculation that the United States might follow suit. In fact, the IMF’s own accounting guidelines recommend countries value gold holdings at the market rate.

Awareness of the need to tap the IMF’s undervalued gold reserves is growing. In the past year, leading experts, top officials from Brazil and South Africa, and the G-24, which represents developing country interests at the Fund, all called on the organization to consider a gold sale.

Seeing that call through would take additional political will. But if the alternative is letting developing countries founder in the current crisis — or worse, bleeding them dry in order to protect the IMF’s balance sheets — then the choice couldn’t be clearer.

Michael Galant is a Senior Research and Outreach Associate, and Ivana Vasic-Lalovic is a Senior Research Associate, at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (cepr.net) in Washington, DC

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Though access is back, throttling and platform blocks persist, reflecting tightened internet restrictions nationwide. Credit: Learning Together.

By External Source
KABUL, Oct 14 2025 (IPS)

At the end of September, the Taliban abruptly severed Wi-Fi and fiber-optic internet in Afghanistan for 48 hours without any explanation. The disruption caused consternation and suffering among millions of Afghans, especially those who depend on the internet for education and online commerce.

Closing girls’ schools had not entirely stopped students from pursing education, as many found workarounds through online classes. They therefore, targeted Wi-Fi and fiber-optic internet to close off all those possibilities

Even though the internet blockage has been lifted, its speed is significantly lower than normal, and certain social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook appear to be intentionally restricted, according to foreign journalists reporting from the country.

Nilam, 23, recalls, how her online English language lesson was suddenly disconnected, leaving her desperate. “At that moment, my world went dark. I felt like I had lost everything and all my dreams were destroyed right in front of me”. She recounts the previous decrees issued by the Taliban that closed down schools and universities, “and how many times I was forced to stay home”.

Online English courses, she said, was the only available channel left to her to learn a language and find a job, or study abroad. And when it appeared that it was also blocked she was lost and in total despair.

As she colourfully puts it, “It was as if I were living in the century of carrier pigeons; the Taliban have cut us off from the flow of global progress”, she said.

The Taliban’s stated reason for yanking Afghans off the internet was to curb “immorality,” arguing that widespread access among young people to the internet, and the use of smartphones generate moral corruption.

However, media experts reject that explanation as a cover for the Taliban’s main objective, which is to deny girls’ access to education, the flagship policy of the Islamist group since it returned to power four years ago.

Many women in Afghanistan relied on online study; tightening internet restrictions now make it far more difficult. Credit: Learning Together.

They first began by shutting off wireless internet in the provinces of Balkh, Baghlan, Kandahar, and Paktia. This was extended to fifteen other provinces the next day, denying access to internet to millions of Afghans. Closing girls’ schools had not entirely stopped students from pursing education, as many found workarounds through online classes. They therefore, targeted Wi-Fi and fiber-optic internet to close off all those possibilities.

For many low-income households, Wi-Fi was the most affordable option because several family members could simultaneously use a single connection for study and work at a relatively cheaper cost compared to mobile data.

Nooria, in Mazar-i-Sharif, like many women who had lost jobs due to Taliban edicts, turned to online commerce to support her family.

“After the fall of the republic, I turned to online selling to cover living expenses. Through this work, I could meet my own needs and help support part of my family’s expenses. But now, with wireless internet cut off, continuing this work has become nearly impossible for me”, she complained bitterly.

As she explains, mobile data internet is prohibitively expensive. “By paying 2,000 Afghanis (about 26 Euros), our entire family could use wireless internet” she says. “My little sister would study, my brothers would work on their lessons, and I could continue my online work. But now, if we want to buy mobile data, we would have to pay separately for each person, a cost we simply cannot afford.”

Announcement posted at an internet provider notifying customers of an internet ban under new internet restrictions. Credit: Learning Together.

Ahmad, an internet service provider in Herat, emphasizes that limited access provides hardly meaningful internet use.

“Apart from simple messaging on WhatsApp, nothing else will be allowed. That means no education, no online work, no research, and no free connection with the outside world”, says Ahmad.

Last month’s outage was widely described by local users and providers as the most sweeping multi-province shutdown since the fall of the Afghan Republic on August 15, 2021.

At the beginning of 2025, 13.2 million – around 30.5 percent of the population – had access to the internet in Afghanistan, according to the specialist website DataReportal. Around 4.05 million people were using social media.

Experts believe the Taliban are attempting to completely isolate Afghan society from global communication, allowing only a small group of people connected to business or government to access the internet.

They warn that, if implemented, such restrictions would severely cripple the social, educational, and economic life of ordinary citizens. Analysts warn that this move will deal a severe blow to the education of Afghan women and girls, pushing society further into isolation.

Excerpt:

The author is an Afghanistan-based female journalist, trained with Finnish support before the Taliban take-over. Her identity is withheld for security reasons

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Multilateral development banks are caught in a tricky dynamic: responding to pressures from key shareholders — notably the U.S. — to loosen restrictions on financing for fossil fuels while working to limit greenhouse gas emissions that negatively affect development. Credit: IPS

By Philippe Benoit
WASHINGTON DC, Oct 14 2025 (IPS)

The World Bank and other multilateral development banks recently have begun reconsidering their self-imposed restrictions on financing fossil fuel projects. This change is being prompted in part by the new U.S. administration and is also supported by developing country experts. Yet, the reality remains that greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from fossil fuels, and specifically the climate change they induce, can severely undermine multilateral development bank projects and overall developing country growth prospects.

Most of these emissions, however, come from richer big economies, not poorer developing ones. Given the negative effects of these emissions, multilateral development banks need to push richer economies away from fossil fuel-produced GHG emissions, even as they consider softening restrictions on lending for fossil fuel projects in poorer countries.

Last decade, multilateral development banks began restricting funding for fossil fuel projects due to concerns about the negative impact of emissions-induced climate change on development, but also under pressure from the U.S., European and other key stakeholders.

The emissions reduction needed to avoid dangerous levels of climate change must come, unsurprisingly, from the world’s biggest economies. This includes China, with 33 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in 2022, followed by the U.S. with 13 percent, the European Union taken as a block, Russia and then Japan. Together, these countries generate 60 percent of the global total

For example, the World Bank announced in 2017 it would largely stop funding gas drilling and extracting projects. Other multilateral development banks followed suit.

Many have noted the economic benefits being denied to poor countries by these restrictions, such as export revenues and power plants fueled by domestic gas reserves. In contrast, Sub-Saharan Africa and South America have contributed little to historical global emissions — 2 percent and 3 percent, respectively, a trend projected to continue.

As the International Energy Agency consistently highlights in its climate scenarios, the emissions reduction needed to avoid dangerous levels of climate change must come, unsurprisingly, from the world’s biggest economies. This includes China, with 33 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in 2022, followed by the U.S. with 13 percent, the European Union taken as a block, Russia and then Japan. Together, these countries generate 60 percent of the global total. India is also a large emitter, but its level is driven more by a massive population than wealth.

These emissions, and specifically the climate change they drive, present two significant risks for multilateral development banks. First, they undermine the development benefits sought by multilateral development bank projects. Second, they create financial risks for these banks by potentially weakening the capacity of developing country borrowers to repay their loans.

The massive 2022 flooding in Pakistan illustrates the potentially devastating economic impact of climate change, as the country suffered over $30 billion in losses — nearly 10 percent of its GDP. This degree of devastation is not feasible to plan for or adapt to. It needs to be avoided.

Unfortunately, various factors stunt a proper appreciation of climate change’s potential destructive impact. First, there is the ‘past is not prologue’ phenomenon, namely the inevitable uncertainties regarding the future. Looking back or even to the present does not provide a full sense of the future potential destructive impact of climate change.

Second, climate change’s impact grows over time, producing more destruction in a more distant future. Its small impact on today’s stock market where short-term horizons drive valuation contrasts significantly with its potentially large-scale economic damage 15 to 20 years from now as climate change predictably worsens over time. That longer period is particularly relevant to multilateral development banks, whose projects often take years to mature, and whose corresponding loans extend beyond 15 years.

Third, the uncertainty inherent in predicting the future is being exploited by climate minimizers to play down the long-term perils of emissions relative to the shorter-term benefits of fossil fuel projects.

As a result, multilateral development banks are caught in a tricky dynamic: responding to pressures from key shareholders — notably the U.S. — to loosen restrictions on financing for fossil fuels while working to limit greenhouse gas emissions that negatively affect development.

Earlier this year, the World Bank’s president proposed an “all of the above” shift in approach, with more natural gas development projects, as well as nuclear power and other alternatives. Although this proposal was welcomed by some, the World Bank’s board in June deferred a decision on natural gas, even as it approved nuclear power.

This debate will continue, including at the World Bank Annual Meetings this October. But the writing is on the wall as the U.S. pushes multilateral development banks to fund more fossil fuel projects.

This discussion, however, hides a thornier and more important development issue: the pressing and inescapable need in supporting the long-term development of poorer countries to address the fossil fuel emissions of the world’s biggest and richest emitting countries. The prospective destructive impact of climate change on the economies of developing countries is too large to ignore.

In order to reduce this risk to multilateral development banks and their poorer developing country borrowers, these banks should launch an initiative to encourage the largest greenhouse gas emitting countries to reduce their emissions [the “Undertaking to Reduce Global Emissions to support Development” (URGED)].

Although these richer countries aren’t susceptible to being influenced through multilateral development bank lending policies (China’s loan levels have dropped significantly, while the US, most EU countries and Japan aren’t even borrowers), they are all leading shareholders of these banks, active on the executive boards and at shareholder meetings and other convenings. This involvement provides an avenue for multilateral development banks to engage with these countries on this emissions topic that affects development.

For example, the “URGED” initiative — built around analytic work, convenings and outreach regarding the negative development impact of wealthy country emissions — could even be launched at the World Bank’s October annual meetings.

Is that likely in today’s political environment? No, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t make sense.


Philippe Benoit is managing director at Global Infrastructure Advisory Services 2050. He previously worked as division chief at the World Bank and the International Energy Agency, as a director at SG Investment Bank and as senior adjunct research scholar at Columbia University-SIPA’s Center on Global Energy Policy.

[Previously published in The Hill]

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