World Bank

14 June 2007 -- The conservative Washington-based research organization, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Thursday held a forum on ways to reform the World Bank, the planet's biggest development lender recently engulfed in controversy that led to the resignation of Paul Wolfowitz as president.

The panel debated whether the over 180 member-nation World Bank is still needed 60 years after it was founded to rebuild war-torn Europe. With one exception the panel of five seemed to agree that the answer is yes, provided changes are made.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, June 5, 2007 – The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved an International Development Association (IDA) grant of US$150 million to finance an expansion of primary enrollment, the rehabilitation of education infrastructure and an improvement of the quality of education in the Democratic Republic of Congo.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, June 5, 2007 – The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved an International Development Association (IDA) grant of US$20 million to finance an Agricultural Development and Rural Roads Rehabilitation Project (ADRRP) in Congo.    » read more »

World Business Leaders Call for Global Carbon Market

BERLIN, June 4, 2007—Leading CEOs from the largest corporations in the energy sector today called for the establishment of a global carbon market as a way to spur innovation, clean energy development, and the additional investments needed to steadily move to a global lower carbon economy.    » read more »

World Bank finds donor nations lag on promises on greater aid, freer trade

WASHINGTON, June 3, 2007 – Two years after pledging a doubling of aid for Africa and new opportunities for African exports, donor nations are falling behind in fulfilling their promises, according to the World Bank. The assessment comes ahead of a meeting of the G8 in Heiligendamm, Germany, from June 6 to 8.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, June 1, 2007 - Beginning today, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) will provide participating governments from the region with immediate access to liquidity if hit by a hurricane or earthquake.    » read more »

US$225 million approved for the third Road Sector Development Project

WASHINGTON, May 31, 2007 – The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$225 million International Development Association (IDA) credit*to the Government of Ethiopia to assist in efforts to increase employment and reduce poverty by continuing support for the development and restoration of the country's road network.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, May 31, 2007—The World Bank today said it is taking a step forward to try to limit the damage of the so-called vulture funds on heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs), and announced the extension of its Debt Reduction Facility for another five years to help such countries reduce the commercial debts they owe.    » read more »

World Bank report also reviews implementation of Common Agricultural Policy

WARSAW, May 31, 2007―Output growth gained further pace across the 10 new European Union member states in 2006, but is likely to slow down in 2007, according to the latest World Bank EU8+2 Regular Economic Report. Growth accelerated in Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Romania, while it remained largely unchanged in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Bulgaria. Only Hungary experienced a slowdown on the back of its fiscal austerity program.    » read more »

Nominee to be World Bank President

May 30, 2007 -- Mr. Zoellick, 53, has led and managed large public and private sector organizations, achieving a record of results during times of rapid change. He motivates, builds loyalty and constituent support, and focuses on strategies and goals. He has worked successfully with all regions of the world on a variety of economic, political, security, environmental, and humanitarian topics – developing coalitions internationally and bipartisan backing at home.    » read more »

May 30, 2007 -- The following statement was issued in Nairobi on May 29 by Scott Rogers, Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Kenya:    » read more »

WASHINGTON, DC, 30 June, 2007- The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors acknowledges the nomination today by the Executive Director of the United States of Mr. Robert Zoellick as World Bank President.

The Board of 24 directors representing 185 member countries looks forward to holding discussions with Mr. Zoellick as part of the selection process.

The Board has set a deadline of June 15 to receive nominations for the position of President of the World Bank Group. After that date, Board meetings will be held to consider all nominations.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, May 30, 2007 — The World Bank today approved additional financing of US$15 million to the Government of Bangladesh, designed to support poor rickshaw-pullers that have been adversely affected by a ban on Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) on certain roads in Dhaka, the nation’s capital.    » read more »

Washington, May 30, 2007 - The World Bank Group’s Board of Directors endorsed today a partnership strategy for its program in Mozambique for the four year period, July 2007–June 2011. The overall goal of this strategy is to empower citizens and institutions so they can promote growth and benefit more broadly from it. The partnership strategy reflects a collaborative approach between the World Bank Group, government, and development partners to support the country’s development.    » read more »

May 30, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid released the following statement today in response to the White House's selection of Robert Zoellick to replace Paul Wolfowitz as president of the World Bank:    » read more »