Germany’s minister for economic cooperation and development, Svenja Schulze, said the World Bank is not an American bank on Friday. Speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s Spring meetings in Washington, Schulze said the US President Donald Trump’s administration cannot decide the mission of the World Bank because its goals are based on the agreement of many countries, Reuters reported.
“This is not an American bank, it’s a world bank. The founding mission of this bank is to take care of exactly these issues, and therefore we will now have to talk about what the US actually wants,” Schulze told Reuters.
Her remark comes US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday said the IMF and World Bank need to redirect their focus on core missions, including macroeconomic stability and development, instead of projects like climate change. The US is the largest single shareholder of the World Bank with a 16% stake.
Prior to the attack on projects like climate change, Trump’s administration had cancelled foreign aid worth billions of dollars, including funding for projects that offer lifesaving care for millions of people in some of the world’s most economically vulnerable countries.
The German development minister reportedly said these cuts have resulted in “a very large loss of trust” in developing countries. Highlighting Germany’s commitment to development in developing economies, Schulze said, “We want to continue investing in development. Investment in development policy is also part of our security policy”.
Germany contributed $34.16 billion, or 0.67% of its GDP for development aid in 2024, according to the Official Development Assistance (ODA) quota. The country missed its target of 0.7%.
