World Bank Boosts Lending to Poor
Thursday, December 16, 2010
The World Bank said it had expanded by about 18 per cent its capacity to give grants and loans to the world’s poorest countries over the next three years.
The $49.3bn funding package for the International Development Association, the bank’s grant and soft-loan arm, will increase the bank’s support to low-income countries despite worldwide pressure on aid budgets as the result of shaky government finances.
Robert Zoellick, the bank’s president, hailed the three-year deal, which was agreed on Wednesday in Brussels by representatives of the bank’s shareholder governments. “This strong level of support is a testimony to IDA’s focus on results that bring improvements on the ground for poor people,” he said.
