RAM LAL ANAND

...COLLEGE ...
PRESENTATION ON WORLD BANK
GROUP ASSIGNMENT BY : -
JANE ALAM - 2060
SAMEER SHRIVASTAVA - 2077
PRAJAL CHETRI - 2047
MANAV CHAMOLI - 2013

COURSE - POLITICAL SCIENCE [H]

SUBJECT - INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL

ECONOMY

SEMESTER- FIFTH [5th]

SUBMITED TO- DR. SOMA PATNAIK MAM

Content:-
-Intoduction
-Overview
-Need?

-Evolution phases
-Breton woods conference
-The world bank as builder and engineer
-The world bank confronts poverty
-Economies in transition and structural
adjustment
-Sustainable development and global
partnerships

-Challenges

-Conclusion
 WORLD BANK:
THE EPIC JOURNEY!
The World Bank is an international development organization
owned by 187 countries. Its role is to reduce poverty by lending
money to the governments of its poorer members to improve
their economies and to improve the standard of living of their
people.
The Bank is also one of the world's largest research centers in
development. It has specialized departments that use this
knowledge to advise countries in areas like health, education,
nutrition, finance, justice, law and the environment. Another
part of the Bank, the World Bank Institute, offers training to
government and other officials in the world through local
research and teaching institutions.

How the World Bank was established

The World Bank was established in 1944 to help rebuild Europe
and Japan after World War II. Its official name was the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
When it first began operations in 1946, it had 38 members.
Today, most of the countries in the world are members.
Do we need a World Bank?
Without a place like the World Bank from which to borrow
money, the world’s poorest countries would have few, if any,
ways to finance much-needed development projects. The
projects are essential to helping people become educated,
live healthy lives, get jobs, and contribute as active citizens.

Evolution: The Epic

Saga!
The World Bank, a global financial institution, was established
in 1944 to aid in the reconstruction of post-war Europe. Over
time, its focus shifted towards promoting economic
development in developing countries. The Bank has evolved
significantly,The phases of evolution are following

1. Breton woods conference

2. The world bank as builder and engineer
3. The world bank confronts poverty
4. Economies in transition and structural adjustment
5. Sustainable development and global partnerships
 BRETTON WOODS CONFERENCE
JULY 1944:-
In July 1944 – one year before the end of World War II –
delegates from 44 countries met for the United Nations
Monetary and Financial Conference held at the Mount
Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. The
conference aimed to create the framework for post-war
international economic cooperation and reconstruction. The
intellectual leaders at the conference were John Maynard
Keynes (Adviser to the Treasury in the United Kingdom) and
Harry Dexter White (Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the
United States).

While the conference resulted in the formation of two

institutions, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World
Bank), the creation of the World Bank was not the primary
focus. The majority of time and effort was spent on the IMF
Commission under Harry Dexter White’s leadership. The work of
the World Bank Commission, on the other hand, occurred only
in the last few days of the conference. Its articles of
agreement - primarily drafted by John Maynard Keynes –
included rebuilding the economies of countries devastated by
war and increasing the economic development of developing
countries.
 THE WORLD BANK AS BUILDER AND
ENGINEER 1946-1967:-
The Bank’s first loan was to France and loans to other
European countries followed. But when the 1947 Marshall Plan
took over post-war reconstruction efforts in Europe, the Bank
quickly shifted to funding infrastructure projects around the
world in sectors such as power, irrigation, and transportation.
The first loan to a non-European country was to Chile in 1948
for $13.5M USD for hydroelectric power generation. The Bank
also initiated a technical assistance program and in 1955
established the Economic Development Institute to provide
training to officials from member countries.

During the early years, the Bank evolved to meet the needs of
its members. In 1956, the International Finance Corporation
(IFC) was established to focus exclusively on the private
sector, and in 1960 the International Development Association
(IDA) was created to provide resources for less creditworthy
members. The IFC’s first loan was to Brazil, in the amount of
$2M USD, for the manufacture of electrical equipment. The
Bank also mediated three international disputes that had an
economic element: the nationalization of Iran’s oil industry; the
development of the Indus River Water system; and the
financing for the Aswan High Dam on the Nile.
 THE WORLD BANK CONFRONTS
POVERTY 1968-1981:-
By the 1970s, over 40% of people in developing countries lived
in absolute poverty. In response, the World Bank’s projects
aimed to help the poor directly. World Bank President Robert
McNamara coined the term “absolute poverty” in his 1973
Annual Meeting speech, and was the first to communicate the
World Bank’s twin goals: "to accelerate economic growth and
to reduce poverty.” (World Development Report, 1978). These
concepts transformed the Bank into the institution focused on
development that we know today.

Lending to member countries increased twelve-fold between

1968 and 1981, and expanded into new sectors: environment,
rural development, water, sanitation, education, and others.
The global effort to eradicate river blindness is one example of
how the Bank worked to improve the lives of the poor, which
was different from the large infrastructure projects that were
done in the Bank’s first 20 years. The first loan for the
environment was in 1971 for pollution control in Brazil, and the
Bank subsequently built environmental safeguards into its
process. During the 1970s economists were the primary
advisers in the Bank, but staff with different skills in
anthropology, sociology, environmental science and other
sectors were hired to provide even more expertise to clients.
 ECONOMIES IN TRANSITION AND
STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT
1982-1994
The 1980s and 90s brought additional challenges related to oil
shocks, debt crises and environmentalism, and the Bank
reacted by bringing new skills and safeguards into its work, as
well as structural adjustment. Structural adjustment loans
came with policy conditions, such as fiscal discipline, tax
reform and liberalization of foreign direct investment; but
while they were intended to improve the policy and
institutional environment in which the loans were made, their
overall effectiveness was debated internally and in the client
community.
In the 1990s, the Bank assisted former Soviet nations to redirect
their economies after the dissolution of the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics, and many of these newly sovereign nations
became World Bank members. In 1991, the Global Environment
Facility (GEF) was established to further the focus on
safeguarding the environment, and in 1996 the Heavily
Indebted Poor Countries debt initiative was approved to
enable poor countries to focus on sustainable development
and reducing poverty. The World Bank added another
institution to the group when the Multilateral Investment
Guarantee Agency (MIGA) was formed in 1988 to provide
political risk insurance and credit enhancement to investors
and lenders.
 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND
GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS
1995-NOW:-
During the late 1990s, the World Bank moved back into the
areas of conflict prevention, post-conflict reconstruction, and
assistance for countries to redirect their economies after major
political change. This period also brought concern about the
impact of government corruption on the effectiveness of
lending operations, which led the World Bank to adopt an anti-
corruption strategy under President James Wolfensohn.
Wolfensohn gave a ground-breaking speech on the “cancer of
corruption” at the 1996 annual meetings, and under his
leadership the focus on country accountability and ownership
of development work became central with the Comprehensive
Development Framework.
The mid-2000s ushered in the idea of the World Bank as a
knowledge institution, and by 2010, the Open Agenda guided
the Bank to a more transparent approach to development. In
collaboration with the United Nations’ Millennium Development
Goals in 2000, and subsequently the Sustainable Development
Goals in 2015, the World Bank moved into the new century
emphasizing community-driven development and aid
coordination, working to safeguard vulnerable groups, and
mitigating the impact of climate change
Challenges:-
Debt Sustainability:
Many developing countries are grappling with high levels
of debt, making it difficult to invest in essential services
and infrastructure. This limits the effectiveness of World
Bank programs.

Climate Change:
The increasing frequency and intensity of climate-related
disasters pose significant challenges to development efforts.
The World Bank needs to adapt its strategies to address the
impacts of climate change and promote sustainable
development.

Political Instability and Conflict:

Political instability and conflict can disrupt development
progress and create barriers to effective aid delivery. The
World Bank must navigate complex political landscapes to
ensure the success of its projects.
Inequality:
Income inequality within and between countries remains a
major challenge. The World Bank needs to focus on policies
that promote equitable growth and reduce poverty
 Governance and Institutional
Capacity:
Weak governance and institutional capacity can hinder the
implementation of development projects. The World Bank
needs to support capacity-building efforts to strengthen
governance and improve public service delivery.

Financial Constraints
The World Bank relies on contributions from member countries,
which can fluctuate. This can limit its ability to respond to
emerging challenges and scale up its operations.

conclustion
The World Bank, founded in 1944, helps reduce poverty and
improve living standards by lending money to poorer nations.
Originally created for post-WWII reconstruction, it now offers
extensive research, training, and advisory services in areas like
health, education, and the environment. Over the years, it has
shifted focus to governance, sustainable development, and
poverty alleviation, playing a crucial role in global economic
growth and community development.