| |
Contributions from
the Column
Facts and trends
Water: Multi-stakeholder dialogue does not take off
World Bank: Wolfowitz to succeed Wolfensohn
Donors delay aid for Sudan
Afghanistan: Still torn apart
EU parliament opposed to sugar reform
Indicators for more effective aid
Honour killings – an underestimated crime
Supachai Panitchpakdi to head UNCTAD?
IDA 14: More money for the poorest countries
Somalia: Government is looking for a residence
Haiti: Hopelessness
04/2005
|
|
IDA 14: More money for the poorest countries
The World Bank subsidiary International Development Association (IDA), which grants concessional loans and grants to the poorest countries, can make more than 34 billion dollars available over the next three years. In late February, donor countries agreed to increase their contributions for the fourteenth replenishment of IDA funds (IDA 14) by 25 percent to around 18 billion dollars. This is the biggest increase in twenty years, but is still less than the increase of 30 percent donors aimed for. The other 16 billion dollars in IDA 14 come from debtors’ repayments and, to a small extent, from World Bank funds. According to the Financial Times, France and Britain above all, increased their pledges significantly, while the USA and Germany did not step up their contributions.
When granting credit in future, IDA will pay greater attention to whether a country is already deeply indebted. Countries with high debts will only receive grants, while the others will receive the IDA’s long-term interest-free loans, as before. According to IDA estimates, the ratio of grants to the total allocation of resources will increase from the current 20 percent to 30 percent. Furthermore, there will be closer monitoring of whether the employment of funds brings results in the poor countries. Both new innovations – the increase in grants and closer monitoring – originate from initiatives of the US government, which even wanted to see the proportion of grants rise to 50 percent. (Also see D+C 2005:3, p. 120.) (ell)
|
