The World Bank said on Wednesday that it committed US$58.8 billion in fiscal year 2009 to help countries struggling amid the global economic crisis, a 54 percent increase over the previous fiscal year and a record high for the global development institution.

In fiscal year 2009 (July 1, 2008--June 30, 2009), the World Bank supported 767 projects to promote economic growth, fight poverty, and assist private businesses, including US$20.7 billion in infrastructure financing, a critical sector to provide the foundation for rapid recovery from the crisis and job creation.

This support was provided in loans, grants, equity investments and guarantees to help countries and private-sector firms deal with the devastating effects of the global financial meltdown, the World Bank said in a statement.

"Requests for assistance from the World Bank Group rose sharply this year, and we expect this to continue well into 2010, as the pace of recovery is far from certain," said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick.

"Millions of people are still suffering, and we must continue to help countries safeguard priority expenditures, including on essential infrastructure, investment in human capital, and social safety nets, or we will further jeopardize hard-fought gains over recent years in overcoming poverty," he added.

The World Bank devoted significant energy and resources in fiscal year 2009 responding to the needs of countries hit by the global financial crisis, with a strong focus on initiatives to protect the most vulnerable in the poorest countries; maintain long-term infrastructure investment programs; and sustain the potential for private sector-led economic growth and employment creation. Support for safety nets and other social protection programs totaled US$4.5 billion.

To help developing countries weather the impacts of the crisis, the World Bank this year proposed a Vulnerability Fund -- a call to action for each developed country to pledge the equivalent of 0.7 percent of its economic stimulus package as additional aid.

The World Bank said that it received a strong response to this call, with donor support to the World Bank crisis initiatives totaling US$6.8 billion, over and above previous commitments to the institution.

Commitments from the World Bank to sub-Saharan African countries, the Bank's top priority, rose to 9.9 billion dollars in fiscal year 2009, up 36 percent from US$7.3 billion in the previous year, according to the bank.

(Xinhua News Agency July 2, 2009)