World Bank's Malpass upbeat on prospects for progress on debt relief

World Bank Group President David Malpass on Friday said he was confident of progress on his joint call with the International Monetary Fund for a temporary standstill in official bilateral debt payments by the world's poorest countries.

Malpass said the proposal would be discussed next week by finance officials of both the Group of Seven (G7) and Group of 20 (G20) economies, and he expected a "broad endorsement" by the 25-member joint Development Committee of the World Bank and IMF when it meets on Friday.

"The world’s poor are looking to the international community to show decisive leadership on debt relief, and I am confident of progress," he said in a posting on LinkedIn.