World Bank commits US$ 58.9 billion to crisis-hit countries
PANA

The World Bank said it committed US$ 58.8 billion in its f iscal year 2009 to help countries hit by the global economic crisis.

The Pan African News Agency (PANA) learnt that the amount is a 54 per cent incre ase over the figure for the previous fiscal year and a record high for the globa l development institution.

In a statement, made available to PANA in New York, the World Bank stated: ``In fiscal year 2009 (July 1, 2008-June 30, 2009), the bank supported 767 projects t o promote economic growth, fight poverty and assist private businesses."

It also said that it included US$ 20.7 billion in infrastructure financing, whic h it said was a critical sector to provide the foundation for rapid recovery fro m the crisis and job creation.

It noted that, ``this support was provided in loans, grants, equity investments and guarantees to help countries and private-sector firms deal with the devastat i ng effects of the global financial meltdown."

The Workd Bank Group President Robert Zoellick said in the statement that, ``req uests for assistance from the World Bank Group rose sharply this year and we exp e ct this to continue well into 2010, as the pace of recovery is far from certain.

``Millions of people are still suffering, and we must continue to help countries safeguard priority expenditures, including on essential infrastructure, investm e nt in human capital and social safety nets, or we will further jeopardise hard-f o ught gains over recent years in overcoming poverty."

PANA reported that the bank also disclosed that it devoted "significant'' energy and resources in fiscal year 2009 to respond to the needs of countries hit by t h e global financial crisis.

It said it focused on initiatives to protect the most vulnerable in the poorest countries; maintain long-term infrastructure investment programmes and sustain t h e potential for private sector-led economic growth and employment creation.

It also said that support for safety nets and other social protection programmes totaled US$ 4.5 billion.

To help developing countries weather the impacts of the crisis, the World Bank t his year proposed a Vulnerability Fund, to which each developed country will ple d ge the equivalent of 0.7 per cent of its economic stimulus package as additional

aid to developing countries.

The World Bank, however, said that it received a strong response to the fund, wi th donor support to the World Bank crisis initiatives totaling US$ 6.8 billion, o ver and above previous commitments to the institution.

"Commitments from the World Bank to sub-Saharan African countries, the bank's to p priority, rose to US$ 9.9 billion in fiscal year 2009, up 36 per cent from US$

7.3 billion in the previous year,'' according to the bank. 

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