01/07/2020 (Agence Europe) – In a joint statement, the leaders of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and six multilateral development banks, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), pledged to address trade finance shortages and to redouble their efforts to support trade finance institutions in the coming months. Access to trade finance, already difficult in developing countries and for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), has become even more difficult in times of pandemic, affecting in particular imports of essential food and medical products. As economic conditions are deteriorating worldwide, banks are increasingly reluctant to take risks, especially for cross-border transactions. Funding shortages that have a particularly strong effect on the livelihoods of the most disadvantaged. (HD)