The World Bank and IMF (International Monetary Fund)

The World Bank

The World Bank is working towards a world free of poverty. The World Bank has set two main goals to be achieved by 2030:

·End extreme poverty by decreasing the percentage of people living on less than $1.25 a day to no more than 3%.

·Promote shared prosperity by fostering the income growth of the bottom 40% for every country.

The World Bank provide low interest loans and grants to developing countries. These can often be used to fund healthcare, education, sanitation and important infrastructure. They aim to promote the use of natural resources, having as little impact on the environment as possible. Their 2014 annual report focuses on two of the World Bank Groups institutions: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA).

This screenshot from the 2014 annual report shows that their main commitments are in Brazil and India. The IBRD and IDA have the most operations in Africa. The Middle East and North Africa have as little as 5 IBRD operations.

 

This screenshot from the 2014 report shows the World Bank in relation to the millennium development goals. This graph shows that extreme poverty has decreased from 1990-2015 target. Access to safe drinking water has gone from 24 in 1990 to 62 as a 2015 target.

Main indicators The World Bank use to measure development:

·         Agricultural and rural development

·         Aid effectiveness

·         Climate change

·         Economy and growth

·         Education

·         Environment

·         Debt

·         Gender

·         Infrastructure

·         Technology and Urban development

 

IMF – International Monetary Fund

·         The IMF promotes international monetary cooperation and exchange rate stability, facilitates the balanced growth of international trade, and provides resources to help members in balance of payments difficulties or to assist with poverty reduction.

·         The IMF has 188 member countries. It is a specialized agency of the United Nations but has its own charter, governing structure, and finances. Its members are represented through a quota system broadly based on their relative size in the global economy. 

·         Through its economic surveillance, the IMF keeps track of the economic health of its member countries, alerting them to risks on the horizon and providing policy advice. It also lends to countries in difficulty, and provides technical assistance and training to help countries improve economic management. This work is backed by IMF research and statistics.

The IMF provides loans to countries that have trouble meeting their international payments and cannot otherwise find sufficient financing on affordable terms. This financial assistance is designed to help countries restore macroeconomic stability by rebuilding their international reserves, stabilizing their currencies, and paying for imports—all necessary conditions for launching growth. The IMF also provides concessional loans to low-income countries to help them develop their economies and reduce poverty.