The World Bank is a bank that provides financial and technical assistance to developing countries for development programs (e.g. bridges, roads, schools, etc.) with the stated goal of reducing poverty.
The World Bank differs from the World Bank Group, in that the World Bank comprises only two institutions:
- International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
- International Development Association (IDA)
Whereas the latter incorporates these two in addition to three more:
- International Finance Corporation (IFC)
- Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
- International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
The World Bank was created following the ratification of the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference|Bretton Woods agreement. The concept was originally conceived in July 1944 at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference. Two years later, the Bank issued its first loan: US$250 million to France for post-war reconstruction, the main focus of the Bank's work in the early post-World War II years. Over time, the "development" side of the Bank's work has assumed a larger share of its lending, although it is still involved in post-conflict reconstruction, together with reconstruction after natural disasters, response to humanitarian emergencies and post-conflict rehabilitation needs affecting developing and transition economies. There were criticisms of the results of the World Bank's "development schemes" leading to corruption and widespread exploitation by the corporations who are given monopolies of developing nations' resources.
The World Bank is one of the two Bretton Woods Institutions which were created in 1944 to rebuild a war-torn Europe after World War II. Later, largely due to the contributions of the Marshall Plan, the World Bank was forced to find a new area in which to focus its efforts. Subsequently, it began attempting to rebuild the infrastructure of Europe's former colonies. Since then it has made a variety of changes regarding its focus and goals. From 1968-1981 it focused largely on poverty alleviation. In the 1980s and 1990s its main focus was both debt management and structural adjustment.
FOR MORE VISIT- http://www.worldbank.org/
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