Bank President James Wolfensohn spent much of the Bank Annual Meeting distancing his institution from its sibling, insisting that it is not a “second level IMF” and does not provide bail-out funds.
International
Finance
News
Middle-income country charges up
To halt the decline in its income, the World Bank has raised the charges middle-income…
IFI governance
News
World Bank self-image revealed
This summer the World Bank’s external affairs team commissioned a detailed survey of views about what the Bank does and should do.
Social services
News
NGO network on health and adjustment
A new European network has been established to work on the health impacts of debt and adjustment and promote good health policies.
Rights
News
Bank boss meets rights groups
Leading human rights NGOs met World Bank President Wolfensohn in June.
Knowledge
News
Organising for the 2000 poverty report
The 2000 Report will tackle poverty and be led by Ravi Kanbur, of Cornell University in the USA, working with a team of Bank staff including Michael Walton, Director, Poverty Reduction.
Knowledge
News
Draft Bank gender policy queried
The World Bank has circulated a consultation paper towards a proposed Policy Research Report on gender issues to be published in Spring 2000.
Knowledge
News
What is the WDR for, and how is it produced?
Given the lack of clarity and satisfaction about how WDRs are produced, and the difficulty of persuading the authors to recognise and include alternative views, the Bretton Woods Project has written to the Bank asking for a formal explanation.
IFI governance
News
Forest review concession
The Bank has now accepted that its Forest Policy Implementation Review will look at effects on forests of its non-forest lending, and that its Operations Evaluation Department will do some of the field studies.
Finance
News
IDA talks climax
The World Bank is now in the advanced stages of negotiation with donor countries on funding for the next 3 years of its International Development Association soft loan funding arm.
Finance
News
IMF hints at U-turn on capital controls
There are signs that the IMF may be reconsidering its stance that all capital flows are harmful.
IFI governance
News
CAS publication agreed
The Bank has agreed to publish Country Assistance Strategies (CAS) - the documents which set out the Bank’s multi-year lending plans - once they have been discussed by the Board and if the borrower government requests it.
Featured briefings
12 December 2024
The Bretton Woods Observer: Winter 2024
16 October 2024
The Bretton Woods Observer: Autumn 2024
16 October 2024
The lost call for international financial architecture reform in the G20
At the 80th anniversary of the World Bank and IMF, global civil society must maintain pressure on the Brazilian and South African G20 presidencies to ensure the forth Financing for Development Conference in 2025 results in urgently required international financial architecture reform.