UNDP urges affordable finance as energy, climate and debt pressures strain developing countries
UNDP administrator Alexander De Croo has called for faster access to affordable finance as developing countries face overlapping energy-price, climate and borrowing pressures ahead of the October 12–18, 2026 IMF–World Bank meetings.
In short
- UNDP administrator Alexander De Croo has called for faster access to affordable finance as developing countries face overlapping energy-price, climate and borrowing pressures ahead of the October 12–18, 2026 IMF–World Bank meetings.
Developing countries need faster access to affordable finance to protect vulnerable households from overlapping energy-price, climate and borrowing pressures, UNDP administrator Alexander De Croo said in remarks reported by The Guardian on October 11, 2026.
De Croo said governments were losing the budget capacity to cushion rising costs and urged multilateral lenders, donors and other partners to help sustain that support. His appeal precedes the IMF–World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, scheduled for October 12–18, 2026.
UNDP’s report, No Time to Recover, examines how successive shocks are exhausting developing economies’ financial buffers. Its published overview estimates that full transmission of energy and food price increases could push an additional 130 million people below $6.85 a day. That is a scenario estimate, rather than a count of people already pushed into poverty.
According to The Guardian, De Croo warned that energy costs, El Niño-related risks to crops and extreme weather, and more expensive borrowing were placing simultaneous demands on public finances. He called for immediate financial support while acknowledging that negotiated debt relief could take months.
The policy question facing lenders and governments is how to preserve assistance for households while budgets come under increasing pressure. De Croo did not set out a specific financing package in the reported remarks.
