Demand for WB Lending on the Rise as Countries Face Headwinds

As developing countries continue to face strong economic headwinds, demand for lending from the World Bank has risen to levels never seen outside a financial crisis, and is on track to climb to more than $150 billion in support between FY13 and the current fiscal year.

“We are in a global economy where growth is expected to remain weak, so it is critically important that the World Bank play our traditional role of helping developing countries accelerate growth,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. “We have an historic opportunity to end extreme poverty in the world by 2030 but the only way we can achieve this goal is if developing countries – from middle-income to low-income nations – get back on the path of faster growth that helps the poorest and most vulnerable.”

Global economic growth is projected at 2.9 percent in 2016, picking up at a slower pace than previously expected from an estimated 2.4 percent in 2015. However, conditions have generally deteriorated further since the start of the year.

In the face of these challenges, demand from middle-income countries for IBRD lending in our last fiscal year, FY15, was the highest it has ever been outside a financial crisis at $23.5 billion. The Bank expects that FY16 will easily eclipse that record, with lending projected to rise above $25 billion.