supply chains. from a medium - term perspective, it is also essential to appropriately fund medical research, not only to obtain a vaccine, but also to produce effective drugs that can treat patients, reducing the number of those needing intensive care, and avoiding the most adverse health outcomes. international cooperation and coordination are key not only for the virus - suppression strategy to be successful on the global scale, but also in the aftermath, as it would be highly beneficial to support production with positive externalities. the world bank group response this unprecedented global shock risks unravelling the development gains of the past decades. limited social protection mechanisms could exacerbate the damage caused by the covid crisis to far too many workers, particularly those in informal sectors. as a result, poverty rates may climb back to levels not seen in many years. a lack of decisive policy measures can have even grimmer longer - term consequences if human capital accumulation is impaired, e. g. because of adverse nutritional outcomes for children in vulnerable households or school closures. in addition to increasing the resources available for health systems, policy strategy during the emergency must focus on supporting firms, workers and household incomes, as well as preventing liquidity problems from turning into massive defaults. besides saving lives, the top priority is to maintain the productive capacity of our economies. preserving the functionality of financial markets and stability of the financial system is a conditio sine qua non for this to work. the world bank group ( wbg ) has acted quickly to respond to the emergency created in several developing countries as a result of the shock to health systems, demonstrating that it is able to respond effectively and in a timely manner to rapidly evolving circumstances. we commend management for their targeted, timely and effective actions : we are in a situation in which choosing to save a dollar today could cost many more later on. we praise the ifc and miga ’ s decisions to provide liquidity to the business sector, either directly or through financial institutions. these interventions should be truly complementary to those of financial authorities worldwide, who are exploiting the flexibility envisaged within existing regulatory frameworks fully and contemplating how to adapt them, if needed, to contain the risk of financial instability. the size of the wbg ’ s initial response is important, but more must be done. in planning for that, it is important to strike the appropriate balance between alleviating short - term needs and maintaining longerterm development goals. this means operating with an effective

law. law enforcement agencies are overwhelmed by the sheer size and sophistication that criminals are now employing to perpetrate their illegal deeds. the efforts on crime prevention are now compounded by globalization that has created what one may say is a global economy in which organized crime groups and individuals can and do generate huge sums of money. money laundering is therefore a global problem which requires a concerted global response. in order to protect our respective financial systems from the destabilizing effects of crime and money laundering, it is imperative that we act and respond to this scourge with unmatched resolve and commitment to combating it. everybody has, therefore, a responsibility to combat money laundering, because its negative impact has a unique way of creating far ranging negative consequences. the financial sector, in particular the banking sector, more than any sectors, needs to operate in a crime and money laundering free environments. we all know that banks deal with other people ’ s money and therefore rely heavily on reputation for integrity. without the public confidence from the law abiding citizenry it would be difficult for financial institutions to conduct business in the form they do now. it is also conceivable that money laundering, if perpetrated on a high scale, would complicate the ability of financial institutions to manage their operations and risks. another consequence of money laundering on a grand scale is that it may erode the effectiveness and management of monetary policy, because of its potential of changing the demand for cash in the economy. money laundering is also bad for the economy and development in that it undermines legitimate business, competition and reduces the tax revenue to national authorities as launderers would be operating underground outside the tax net. the combating of money laundering presupposes the existence of capacity and resources at national level. in many of developing countries, this is a real challenge in that there are competing demands with regards to the utilization of scarce resources. the scarcity of resources is more critical in the law enforcement spheres, since most national jurisdictions have less than efficient law enforcement agencies which are in most cases overwhelmed by the demands to enforce other national laws. in conclusion, i would like to urge members of the public to look out for information on combating money laundering, starting next week. i look forward to everyone ’ s participation in effectively combating money laundering. i thank you for your attention.