International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), specialized agency of the United Nations, with headquarters at Washington, D.C.; also called the World Bank. Plans were laid at the Bretton Woods Conference (1944) for the formation of a world bank; it was formally organized in 1945, when 28 countries ratified the agreement; there are now 185 members. 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, the United States, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, and France, 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. Closely affiliated with the bank is the International Finance Corporation (est. 1956), which invests in private enterprises without government guarantee. The bank organized the International Development Association (1960) to extend credit on easier terms, mainly to developing countries. The group of institutions is known as the World Bank Group. 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.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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