(Bloomberg) — The World Bank’s fund for helping the world’s most impoverished people will receive a record $93 billion replenishment from donor nations and other sources over three years.
The funding is for the International Development Association, the World Bank unit that makes low-interest loans and grants to the poorest countries, the development lender said in a statement on Wednesday. The financing, an increase of about 12% from the last replenishment in 2019, brings together $23.5 billion of contributions from 48 high- and middle-income nations with financing raised in the capital markets, repayments, and the World Bank’s own contributions.
IDA stakeholders had been meeting this week to agree on a refill for the fund — a process that happens about every three years — to address the challenges of Covid-19, climate change and poverty.
“Today’s generous commitment by our partners is a critical step toward supporting poor countries in their efforts to recover from the Covid-19 crisis,” World Bank Group President David Malpass said. “We are grateful for the confidence our partners have in IDA as a non-fragmented and efficient platform to tackle development challenges and improve the lives of millions of people around the world.”
IDA provides financing to 74 countries, about half of which are in Africa. Since 1960, IDA has provided $458 billion to 114 countries. Annual commitments have increased steadily and averaged about $29 billion over the last three years.
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