Current Affairs · International Financial Institutions

The World Bank Group's commitment to environmental and social standards is codified in its Environmental and Social Framework (ESF). Simultaneously, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA) are the principal sources of public sector financing. Analyze the following seven statements: 1. The IBRD/IDA no longer provides any direct financing for coal-fired power generation projects, with exceptions only considered in rare circumstances in countries with no feasible alternative, but they can still finance supporting infrastructure (e.g., transmission lines) for coal-fired plants if the country's development plan depends on it. 2. The IDA's 20th Replenishment (IDA20) strategic priorities place a significant focus on five special themes, which include Climate Change, Fragility, Conflict, and Violence (FCV), Gender, Human Capital, and Regional Integration. 3. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) has an explicit mandate to promote Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into developing countries by mitigating political risk through insurance and credit enhancement, and its priority sectors include fragile and conflict-affected countries (FCCs) and climate-friendly investments. 4. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), as the private-sector arm, exclusively uses its own capital and is strictly prohibited from mobilizing private capital through tools like co-financing or syndicated loans for projects it supports. 5. The IBRD's lending interest rate is determined by a variable spread over the cost of borrowing it incurs in capital markets, but it has no facility to offer a fixed interest rate to a borrower even if the borrower desires one to manage interest rate risk. 6. A developing country can be eligible for both IBRD and IDA financing simultaneously if its per capita GNI falls below the IDA operational cutoff but is considered sufficiently creditworthy to borrow from the IBRD (a status known as blend status). 7. The World Bank Group is committed to aligning its financing flows with the Paris Agreement goals and aims to increase the share of its climate finance to an average of 35% of its total financing over the 2021-2025 period. Which of the above statements are correct?