INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
IBRD
Introduction:
The world’s
largest development bank, IBRD provides financial products and policy advice to
help countries reduce poverty and extend
the benefits of sustainable growth to all of their people. The
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is a global
development cooperative owned by 189 member countries. As the largest
development bank in the world, it supports the World Bank Group’s mission by
providing loans, guarantees, risk management products, and advisory services to
middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries, as well as by coordinating
responses to regional and global challenges.
The World Bank
was created at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, along with the International
Monetary Fund (IMF). The president of the World Bank is, traditionally, an
American. The World Bank and the IMF are both based in Washington, D.C., and
work closely with each other.
The intention
behind the founding of the World Bank was to provide temporary loans to
low-income countries which were unable to obtain loans commercially. The Bank
may also make loans and demand policy reforms from recipients.
Organization:
The World Bank
is like a cooperative, made up of 189 member countries. These member
countries, or shareholders, are represented by a Board of Governors, who are
the ultimate policymakers at the World Bank. Generally, the governors are
member countries' ministers of finance or ministers of development. They meet
once a year at the Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World
Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund.
The governors
delegate specific duties to 25 Executive Directors, who work on-site at the
Bank. The five largest shareholders appoint an executive director, while other
member countries are represented by elected executive directors.
The World Bank
Group President chairs meetings of the Boards of Directors and is responsible
for overall management of the Bank. The President is selected by the Board of
Executive Directors for a five-year, renewable term.
The Executive
Directors make up the Boards of Directors of the World Bank. They normally meet
at least twice a week to oversee the Bank's business, including approval of
loans and guarantees, new policies, the administrative budget, country
assistance strategies and borrowing and financial decisions.
The World Bank
operates day-to-day under the leadership and direction of the president,
management and senior staff, and the vice presidents in charge of Global
Practices, Cross-Cutting Solutions Areas, regions, and functions.
In time, the
focus shifted from reconstruction to development, with a heavy emphasis on
infrastructure such as dams, electrical grids, irrigation systems, and
roads. With the founding of the
International Finance Corporation in 1956, the institution became able to lend
to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries. And the founding of the International
Development Association in 1960 put greater emphasis on the poorest countries,
part of a steady shift toward the eradication of poverty becoming the Bank
Group’s primary goal. The subsequent
launch of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes and
the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency further rounded out the Bank
Group’s ability to connect global financial resources to the needs of
developing countries.
Today the Bank
Group’s work touches nearly every sector that is important to fighting poverty, supporting economic
growth, and ensuring sustainable gains in the quality of people’s lives in
developing countries. While
sound project selection and design remain paramount, the Bank Group recognizes
a wide range of factors that are critical to success—effective institutions,
sound policies, continuous learning through evaluation and knowledge-sharing,
and partnership, including with the private sector. The Bank Group has long-standing
relationships with more than 180 member countries, and it taps these to address
development challenges that are increasingly global. On critical issues like climate change,
pandemics, and forced migration, the Bank Group plays a leading role because it
is able to convene discussion among its country members and a wide array of
partners. It can help address crises
while building the foundations for longer-term, sustainable development.
The evolution of
the Bank Group has also been reflected in the diversity of its
multidisciplinary staff, who include economists, public policy experts, sector
experts, and social scientists, based at headquarters in Washington, D.C., and
in the field.
IBRD Mission
To
end extreme poverty:
By reducing the
share of the global population that lives in extreme poverty to 3 percent by
2030.
To
promote shared prosperity:
By increasing
the incomes of the poorest 40 percent of people in every country.
One World Bank Group:
Five institutions have their own country membership, governing boards, and articles of agreement, they work as one to serve the partner countries.
IBRD
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
IDA
The International Development Association
IFC
The International Finance Corporation
MIGA
The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
ICSID
The International Centre
for Settlement of I Pic Courtesy :worldbank.org
Where
does IBRD Work?
The World Bank
Group works in more than 170 countries, working with partners in the public and
private sectors in their efforts to end poverty and tackle some of the most
pressing development challenges.
President
of IBRD:
Ajay Banga, is an Indian-born American business executive He is the 14th President of the World Bank Group. His five-year term began on June 2, 2023.
Boards of Governors:
The Boards of Governors consist of one
Governor and one Alternate Governor appointed by each member country. The
office is usually held by the country's minister of finance, governor of its
central bank, or a senior official of similar rank. The Governors and
Alternates serve for terms of five years and can be reappointed.
If the country is a member of the Bank
and is also a member of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) or the
International Development Association (IDA), then the appointed Governor and
his or her alternate serve ex-officio as the Governor and Alternate on the IFC
and IDA Boards of Governors. They also serve as representatives of their
country on the Administrative Council of the International Center for
Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) unless otherwise noted. Multilateral
Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) Governors and Alternates are appointed
separately.
-/-/-/-
Notes
compiled from
https://www.worldbank.org/
