World Bank walking tightrope as it mulls increased lending to poorest

The Bank president, David Malpass, hopes to prevent countries that have made huge strides in the last 30 years from going backwards. Photograph: James Lawler Duggan/Reuters

Not since the early 1990s has the world faced such a period of low growth.

Discounting the havoc caused by the financial crash of 2008 and the initial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Bank says that by the end of 2024 it will have been 30 years since the global economy grew at an average of less than 2% a year.