The World Bank President, Jim Kim, said some rich and emerging-market nations would commit $52 billion over a period of three years to a World Bank fund.
Kim said on Tuesday in Washington that the fund was to aid the world’s poorest countries.
“The fact that this generosity came during a very difficult economic period makes this pledge all the more significant,” he said.
Reuters reports that the figure marks an increase of about five per cent from the last time the International Development Association was topped up in 2010.
IDA is the world’s largest fund for the poorest countries, many of them in Africa.
It offers grants and interest-free loans for such basic purposes as providing clean water, improved sanitation, education and better infant and maternal care to the worlds neediest.
Kim said for the first time, over $4 billion of the fund would be given at low-interest loans instead of grants.
The bank president said the overall total was still an increase compared with prior years, even accounting for the loans and inflation.
“We are absolutely delighted because this represents a real increase,” he said.
Forty-six countries contributed to IDA in the latest round of replenishment, compared with 51 last time.
The World Bank said more countries might choose to add funds in the next few weeks, though it could not share exact contributions until March, after the bank’s board must have signed off on the figures.
The United States, Japan and Britain are typically the top three donors to the fund.
Kim said the money in the latest round would be focused on helping countries in conflict areas, mobilising the private sector for investments in climate change and gender equality.
Oxfam, an advocacy and development group, welcomed the renewed pledges, but cautioned that it should be a temporary fix and not a permanent way of operating.
Reuters/NAN.
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