International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

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Main component organization of the World Bank. The IBRD lends money to middle-income and creditworthy poorer countries. Most of its funds come from sales of bonds in international capital markets. More than 180 countries are members of the IBRD. Each member's voting power is linked to its capital subscription; the U.S., with some one-sixth of the shares in the IBRD, has veto power over any proposed changes to the bank. International Monetary Fund; United Nations Development Programme.

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International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

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International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)

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International lending organization, popularly known as the World Bank, founded at the Bretton Woods economic conference in 1944 initially to finance the reconstruction of Europe following World War II, and more recently to provide developing countries with long-term, low-interest credit for industrial development when private financing is unavailable. The World Bank works closely with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and currently has 184 member countries. The World Bank finances its operations through member subscriptions, sale of its own securities, and net earnings. Most World Bank loans are made at variable interest rates pegged to its current cost of funds. Member countries must also be IMF members. In recent years, the World Bank has redefined its traditional role. The bank has set aside funds for new loans, in response to the world debt crisis, and has added its guarantee to new bank loans made to less developed countries. See also Multilateral Development Banks; World Bank Group.

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International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)

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International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) (IBRD), independent specialized agency of the United Nations, with headquarters at Washington, D.C.; one of five closely associated development institutions (also including the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, International Finance Corporation (see below), International Development Association (see below), and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency) that constitute the World Bank Group. Plans were laid at the Bretton Woods Conference (1944) for the formation of a world bank; the IBRD was formally organized as the original institution of the World Bank in 1945, when 28 countries ratified the agreement; there are now 187 members. The IBRD aims at reducing poverty in middle-income and creditworthy poorer countries through loans, guarantees, risk management products, and analytical and advisory services. The bank not only makes loans to member nations, but, under government guarantee, to private investors, for the purpose of facilitating productive investment, encouraging foreign trade, and discharging burdens of international debt. All members of the bank must also belong to the International Monetary Fund. The bank is self-sustaining and has maintained a profit on its lending activities. It is controlled by a board of governors, one from each member state. Votes are allocated according to capital subscription. Ordinary affairs are conducted by 22 executive directors, five appointed by the five largest capital subscribers, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, and the United States, and 17 elected by the remaining members. Regional vice presidents oversee the bank's operations in five regions: Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, East Africa, West Africa, and (in one grouping) Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.

The bank also operates the Economic Development Institute, which offers training in economic development for officials of member countries. Another development institution is the International Finance Corporation (IFC; est. 1956), which invests in private enterprises without government guarantee. The IFC has 182 member nations. The bank organized the International Development Association (IDA; 1960) to extend credit on easier terms, mainly to developing countries. The IDA has 170 member nations. Members of the IFC and IDA must be members of the IBRD. Criticism that the IBRD-financed projects were environmentally destructive led the bank to establish an environmental fund (1990) providing low-interest loans for developing countries. Developing nations have complained that the IBRD imposes the free-market system on them, thereby discouraging planning, nationalization, and public investment.

Bibliography

See the World Bank's publication, World Bank Operations: Sectoral Programs and Policies (1972); E. S. Mason and R. E. Asher, The World Bank since Bretton Woods (1973); C. Payer, The World Bank: A Critical Analysis (1982); S. Please, The Hobbled Giant: Essays on the World Bank (1984).

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International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

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IBRD loans and IDA credits in 2005

(IBRD) is one of five institutions that compose the World Bank Group. The IBRD is an international organization whose original mission was to finance the reconstruction of nations devastated by World War II. Now, its mission has expanded to fight poverty by means of financing states. Its operation is maintained through payments as regulated by member states. It came into existence on December 27, 1945 following international ratification of the agreements reached at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference of July 1 to July 22, 1944 in Bretton Woods, United States.

The IBRD provides loans to governments, and public enterprises, always with a government (or "sovereign") guarantee of repayment subject to general conditions.^[1] The funds for this lending come primarily from the issuing of World Bank bonds on the global capital markets—typically $12–15 billion per year. These bonds are rated AAA (the highest possible) because they are backed by member states' share capital, as well as by borrowers' sovereign guarantees. (In addition, loans that are repaid are recycled, or relent.) Because of the IBRD's credit rating, it is able to borrow at relatively low interest rates. As most developing countries have considerably lower credit ratings, the IBRD can lend to countries at interest rates that are usually quite attractive to them, even after adding a small margin (about 1%) to cover administrative overheads.

Contents

1 Membership
2 History
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

Membership

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development member states

Members of the IBRD are 186 of the UN members and Kosovo. The latest member is Tuvalu, which joined in 2010.

Non-members are Andorra, Cook Islands, Cuba, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Nauru, Niue, North Korea and Vatican City. All other non-members are states with limited recognition.

All members of the IBRD are also IMF members, and vice versa.

History

Commencing operations on June 25, 1946, it approved its first loan on May 9, 1947 ($250m to France for postwar reconstruction, in real terms the largest loan issued by the Bank to date).

The IBRD was established mainly as a vehicle for reconstruction of Europe and Japan after World War II, with an additional mandate to foster economic growth in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Originally the bank focused mainly on large-scale infrastructure projects, building highways, airports, and powerplants. As Japan and its European client countries "graduated" (achieved certain levels of income per capita), the IBRD became focused entirely on developing countries. Since the early 1990s the IBRD has also provided financing to the post-Socialist states of Eastern Europe and the republics of the former Soviet Union.

References

^ Siteresources.worldbank.org

External links

v t e World Bank

World Bank Group	International Bank for Reconstruction and Development · International Development Association · International Finance Corporation · Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency · International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes

Presidents	Eugene Meyer · John J. McCloy · Eugene R. Black, Sr. · George David Woods · Robert McNamara · Alden W. Clausen · Barber Conable · Lewis Thompson Preston · James Wolfensohn Paul Wolfowitz · Robert Zoellick · Jose Antonio Ocampo/Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala/Jim Yong Kim

Elections	1946 · 1947 · 1949 · 1963 · 1968 · 1981 · 1986 · 1991 · 1995 · 2005 · 2007 · 2012

Central banks

Global

Global	Bank for International Settlements Basel Committee on Banking Supervision Financial Stability Board

By continent

Africa	Bank of Central African States Central Bank of West African States Bank of Algeria Central Bank of Angola Bank of Botswana Bank of the Republic of Burundi Bank of Cape Verde Central Bank of the Comoros Central Bank of the Congo Central Bank of Djibouti Central Bank of Egypt Bank of Eritrea National Bank of Ethiopia Central Bank of The Gambia Bank of Ghana Central Bank of the Republic of Guinea Central Bank of Kenya Central Bank of Lesotho Central Bank of Liberia Central Bank of Libya Reserve Bank of Malawi Bank of Mauritius Bank Al-Maghrib Bank of Namibia Central Bank of Nigeria Bank of Somaliland South African Reserve Bank Bank of South Sudan Bank of Sudan Central Bank of Swaziland Bank of Tanzania Central Bank of Tunisia Bank of Uganda Bank of Zambia Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe

Americas	Central Bank of Argentina Central Bank of Aruba Central Bank of The Bahamas Central Bank of Barbados Central Bank of Brazil Bank of Canada Central Bank of Chile Bank of the Republic (Colombia) Central Bank of Cuba Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Bank of the Republic of Haiti Central Bank of Honduras Bank of Jamaica Bank of Mexico Central Bank of Nicaragua Central Reserve Bank of Peru Central Bank of Suriname Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago Federal Reserve System (United States) Central Bank of Venezuela

Asia	Da Afghanistan Bank Central Bank of Bahrain Bangladesh Bank Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan Brunei Currency and Monetary Board National Bank of Cambodia People's Bank of China Hong Kong Monetary Authority Reserve Bank of India Bank Indonesia Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran Central Bank of Iraq Bank of Israel Bank of Japan Central Bank of Jordan National Bank of Kazakhstan National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic Bank of Korea Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Central Bank of Kuwait Banque du Liban Monetary Authority of Macao Bank Negara Malaysia Maldives Monetary Authority Bank of Mongolia Central Bank of Myanmar Nepal Rastra Bank Central Bank of Oman State Bank of Pakistan Palestine Monetary Authority Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Qatar Central Bank Monetary Authority of Singapore Central Bank of Sri Lanka Central Bank of Syria Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Bank of Thailand Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates Central Bank of Uzbekistan State Bank of Vietnam

Europe	European Central Bank (Eurosystem) National Bank of the Republic of Abkhazia Bank of Albania Central Bank of Armenia Central Bank of Azerbaijan National Bank of the Republic of Belarus Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgarian National Bank Croatian National Bank Czech National Bank Danmarks Nationalbank Bank of England Bank of Estonia National Bank of Georgia Hungarian National Bank Central Bank of Iceland Central Bank of Kosovo National Bank of Latvia Bank of Lithuania National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia National Bank of Moldova Central Bank of Montenegro Norges Bank Central Bank of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus National Bank of Poland National Bank of Romania Central Bank of Russia National Bank of Serbia Sveriges Riksbank Swiss National Bank Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey National Bank of Ukraine

Oceania	Reserve Bank of Australia Reserve Bank of Fiji Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bank of Papua New Guinea Central Bank of Samoa Central Bank of Solomon Islands National Reserve Bank of Tonga

Policies and implementation

Policies	Capital requirement Contractionary monetary policy Expansionary monetary policy

Implementation	Capital control Discount rate Interest rates Money creation Open market operations Sovereign wealth fund

Bretton Woods system

International Monetary Fund World Bank Group International Bank for Reconstruction and Development International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes International Development Association International Finance Corporation Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency

Lists

List of central banks Central banks and currencies of Africa Central banks and currencies of the Caribbean Central banks and currencies of Central America and South America

Names in italics indicate non-sovereign (dependent) territories, former countries, or states with limited recognition

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