The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) vowed on Sunday at its joint meeting of the Development Committee to alleviate the global economic crisis impact on developing countries and facilitate their contribution to global recovery.

The World Bank and the IMF said in a communique issued after the conclusion of their joint meeting that the global economy has deteriorated dramatically since their last meeting with the developing countries facing especially serious consequences as the global financial and economic crisis has turned into a human development calamity.

World Bank (WB) President Robert Zoellick (L) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn attend the semi-annual session of the Joint Development Committee of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, in Washington, the U.S., on April 26, 2009. The session was convened as the spring session of the two institutions entered its second day. (Xinhua/Zhang Yan)

The communique said that the ongoing global economic crisis has driven more than 50 million people into extreme poverty and the hard-earned progress towards the Millennium Development Goals is in jeopardy.

"We must alleviate its impact on developing countries and facilitate their contribution to global recovery," the communique said.

The World Bank and the IMF said that the two organizations have shown their leadership and complement each other in helping developing countries respond to the crisis by helping to bridge the huge financing gap including efforts to revive private capital flows.

However, the two bodies said that more needs to be done as the crisis expands further. They called for the efforts to translate their respective commitments, including those made by the participants at the recent London summit, into concerted action and additional resources.

They also urged all donors to accelerate delivery of commitments to increase aid and considering going beyond existing commitments.

In the communique they welcomed the World Bank Group's efforts to ensure a timely crisis response while maintaining its focus on long term development challenges, including those posed by climate change and the need to accelerate progress towards the MDGs.

The two bodies said that they supported the initiatives the World Bank has launched and encourage their timely implementation to protect the poorest, reinvigorate trade finance, maintain infrastructure development and create jobs, and help support the financial sector.

The two bodies also welcomed the additional contributions that have been made and urged governments to consider further support.

The Sunday meeting gathered finance ministers and central bankers from 185 members of the joint committee in pursuit of ways to better combat the current global financial crisis.

The joint committee is composed of 24 ministers or governors of central banks from both rich and poor countries, representing the entire membership of the two international financial institutions.

The Development Committee's next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 5, 2009 in Istanbul, Turkey.

(Xinhua News Agency April 27, 2009)