World Bank president Ajay Banga said on Friday that the institution has set a target to quintuple its financing for critical minerals over the next five years and has identified 20 countries with which it could form partnerships to develop projects in the sector.

Banga unveiled the new target in a prepared speech delivered at a plenary session of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings, held in Bangkok.

“In critical minerals, we plan to quintuple our activity in five years,” Banga said. “This week, we launched our first country framework agreements, in partnership with multilateral development banks, to build local industries and keep more jobs and added value in the countries themselves.”

The World Bank’s new implementation plan for metals and minerals envisages mobilising $19 billion for critical minerals financing in fiscal years 2026–30, compared with $3.6 billion in the preceding five-year period from 2021 to 2025.

The development of the critical minerals sector is one of the areas in which the United States — the World Bank’s largest shareholder — has pushed for an expanded financial role from the institution. Earlier in the week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the bank should play a more active role in developing extraction and processing capacity for these minerals.

Bessent argued that such involvement should include de-risking projects, providing financing, and investing in supporting infrastructure. He also said the approach should extend to deep-sea mining projects.

Banga did not directly address deep-sea mining, but the World Bank’s metals plan sets out a “precautionary approach” to this emerging sector, adding that any intervention or investment would need to comply with the institution’s applicable policies.

The World Bank president also highlighted the growth in the institution’s overall financing in fiscal year 2026, which ended on 30 June. During that period, the group mobilised $112 billion in private capital, more than triple the amount recorded in fiscal year 2022, before Banga took office.

Combined with financing extended through the World Bank’s own balance sheet, that figure amounted to total financing of $230 billion in fiscal year 2026, according to Banga.