Developing economies including the Philippines are pressing the World Bank Group (WBG) to help reduce borrowing costs as the economic fallout from the Middle East conflict drives up oil prices, disrupts supply chains, and threatens growth and food security.

In an April 16 statement delivered before the 113th meeting of the Development Committee of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Brazilian Finance Minister Dario Durigan urged the WBG to deploy stronger financial support tools, including measures “to assist countries in reducing borrowing costs,” such as lowering lending spreads, waiving front-end and commitment fees, and extending loan maturities and grace periods for crisis-related financing.

“The World Bank must bring its financial instruments and expertise to support member countries, and to facilitate the implementation of counter-cyclical measures,” Durigan said, citing rising oil prices, supply disruptions, and risks to food security stemming from the conflict.

The constituency backed a multiphase financing approach for food security and social protection, noting that up to 16 million more people could face food insecurity while global growth could fall and inflation surge due to the crisis.

Durigan noted that governments within the group have rolled out domestic measures to cushion the shock. For instance, Brazil is working to secure fertilizer supply and leverage renewable energy (RE) to reduce exposure to oil price volatility. The South American country has waived diesel taxes and imposed temporary taxes on crude oil exports to protect domestic supply and offset fiscal pressures, alongside measures against abusive pricing, freight tariff protections for truck drivers, and a review of biofuel blending mandates.

The Philippines, meanwhile, has focused on “managing inflation and ensuring stability through targeted interventions to absorb external price shocks,” the statement said, describing these efforts as part of a broader push to shield economies and vulnerable populations from the immediate effects of the crisis.

“These strategies reflect a commitment to protecting our economies and populations from the immediate effects of the crisis. The bank has an important supporting role in this journey,” Durigan said.

Beyond near-term stabilization, the group called for a stronger role for the WBG in supporting job creation and structural transformation. It emphasized the need to promote “more and better jobs,” noting that high informality, low productivity, and limited industrialization continue to constrain income growth across developing economies.

The statement urged greater policy space, financing, and technical support for industrial strategies aimed at boosting value-added production and technological upgrading, arguing that past approaches had left many countries reliant on primary commodities.

It highlighted critical minerals as a key test case for development policy.

“The issue of critical minerals offers a particularly stark illustration of what is at stake. Many of the bank’s client countries are rich in minerals that will power advanced technologies, including the ones critical to the green transition. Yet, without deliberate policy choices led by countries, there is a risk that history will repeat itself: these countries will once again be confined to the role of raw material exporters, while the higher value-added segments of the supply chain are located elsewhere. This would be a new chapter in an old story of extraction without transformation,” the statement read.

“To avoid this outcome, the WBG must help countries overcome their colonial constraints as commodity exporters. This requires the development of integrated, high value-added production chains around critical minerals: from responsible extraction to local processing, component manufacturing, and, where feasible, final goods production. It also requires investing in skills, infrastructure, and regulatory frameworks that make such integration viable and sustainable. Financing, policy advice, and convening power should be aligned with this objective,” it added.

Critical minerals are essential raw materials—such as nickel, cobalt, and lithium—used in clean energy technologies, electronics, and advanced manufacturing, whose supply is often vulnerable to disruption due to geographic concentration and rising global demand.

Nickel is one of the Philippines’ key mineral exports, with the country consistently ranking as the world’s second-largest producer after Indonesia and serving as a major supplier for global stainless steel and battery supply chains.

The constituency also cautioned against a narrow application of the World Bank’s graduation policy, warning that reduced engagement with middle-income countries could weaken the multilateral lender’s ability to respond to increasingly complex global shocks.