World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said the Federal Reserve’s decision to delay its tapering of monthly bond purchases creates an opportunity for developing nations to pursue fiscal reforms ahead of increases in interest rates.

“We want to send the clearest possible message: Now is the time to move,” Kim said at a press conference in Washington. Emerging markets “have a two or three months’ window” before the Fed starts scaling back its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases.

“Now is the time to make those reforms that you need to make, making sure you are focusing on fiscal policy and fiscal policy reforms that you need to make,” he said.

Kim said central banks worldwide are in “new territory,” and any withdrawal of stimulus needs to be gradual.

Kim also said the impasse between the U.S. Congress and President Barack Obama over raising the government’s borrowing limit may harm developing nations’ economies and markets.

A “near miss” over raising the U.S. debt ceiling in 2011 increased borrowing costs and pushed down stock prices in developing countries for months, Kim said. Again this time, “even a near miss will have a real impact on developing countries.”