World Bank chief takes swipe at Microsoft's US$69 billion gaming deal as poor countries struggle

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WASHINGTON: World Bank President David Malpass on Wednesday (Jan 19) criticised Microsoft's US$69 billion takeover of gaming developer Activision Blizzard as a questionable allocation of capital at a time when

as a questionable allocation of capital at a time when poor countries are struggling to restructure debts and fight COVID-19 and poverty.

He said he was struck by the scale of Microsoft's acquisition deal for Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard. This dwarfed the US$23.5 billion in cash contributions agreed in December by wealthier donor countries to the International Development Association, the World Bank's fund for the poorest countries - about US$8 billion annually over three years, he said.

A very small portion of the developing world has access to such bond financing, while too much capital remains bottled up in advanced countries, especially in central bank reserve assets used to back long-term bond purchases, he added. "That gets you into a situation where a huge amount of the capital is being allocated to already capital-intensive parts of the world - the advanced economies - building more and more on top of already heavily built infrastructure and real estate, for example," Malpass said.

 

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