World Bank should add disaster clauses to debt agreements - Yellen
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday (22 June) the World Bank should add disaster clauses to debt agreements with poorer countries, speaking ahead of a summit in Paris that will discuss how to boost crisis financing, reform post-war financial systems and free up funds to tackle climate change.
Such clauses could be part of a broader reform of the World Bank to free up more funds, Yellen told journalists in the French capital.
"We would also like to see the World Bank offer borrowers the option to add climate-resilient debt clauses to their loan agreements. These clauses would help ease pressures on countries if a natural disaster strikes," she said.
She said the priorities of the summit were evolving multilateral development banks, debt sustainability and mobilising private capital.