World Bank History

BRIEF HISTORY

BRIEF HISTORY

The World Bank (WB) was born July 1, 1944, in the context of the negotiations preceding the end of the Second World War at a conference in the town of Bretton Woods (New Hampshire) in which representatives from 44 countries. This day is born what the date is known as the Bretton Woods financial system (named after the name of the hotel complex in the city).

It was founded with the participation of 38 countries to reach the 181 member countries that currently make. It was created primarily to lift the economies of European countries that participated in World War II ended in the destruction and poverty in France, Germany, Japan, Italy, UK and others. In 1947, France was the first country to receive a loan of $ 250 million of those times. After he gave to Chile, Japan and Germany among many other countries. Gradually they were forming the World Bank Group consists of various types of banks for different types of loans.

In 1962, the Bank made a major reform, following the signing of the General Loan Agreement. At first, the Fund sought to limit fluctuations in exchange rates of the currencies of member countries to 1% above or below a central value against the U.S. dollar established which in turn had a fixed value with respect to the pattern gold, 25% of members' contributions should be done in gold. The first reform enabled the creation of the General Loan Agreement, signed in 1962 when it became clear we had to increase the Fund's resources. In 1967, the World Bank meeting in Rio de Janeiro created the SDR as an international unit of account

Since its inception, the Bank has made a profit every year for the payment of interest, speculation in the stock exchange and fees that governments must provide in order to become members and thereby gain access to loans granted by this entity.

Already in 1970 the BM was paid 2 billion dollars and two years later, in 1972, had the capacity to provide up to 3 billion dollars. Its growth was such that in 1979 had the capacity to provide up to 10 billion dollars.

In the 80's, the yield of this body is increased due to the high indebtedness of the poorest countries or developing as they came to such an extent that the Bank began lending to governments to get paid the interest owed BM himself. The debt generated is harnessed in by the owners of the WB for the first loan granted to Turkey by $ 200 million, under severe conditions, which was called Structural Adjustment Programme. By 1990, Mexico received the largest loan granted to this entity amounting to 1,260 million dollars. In 1992 they become part of the Bank's countries of Switzerland, the Russian Federation and twelve republics of the former Soviet Union.

In 1994, he initiated a series of protests and pressure on the BM motivated by the severity of debt policies that the World Bank imposed on debtors. These policies were seen as invasive and that it violates the constitutions of the debtor countries. This forced the Bank to develop the Public Information Center for citizens may obtain information on the projects that the organization carried out.

In 1997, Uganda is the first country that is covered by the Initiative for Highly Indebted Poor Countries Highly Indebted, which is to forgive some debt to the WB in exchange for structural adjustment policies severe.

The World Bank is headquartered in Washington, has 187 member countries, 10,000 employees of which 24 are executive directors and has become a group of five closely related development institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

TOOLS OF ACTION

The World Bank (WB), initially called the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), was created to finance long-term development.

Initially designed to help European nations in the reconstruction of cities after the war, gradually extended its functions and purposes. Today, his intention is to reduce poverty through low-interest loans, interest-free loans at banks. As it emerged the need for creation of new agencies for specific purposes other than the original which had been created, the IBRD became part of a larger conglomerate that worked in parallel under the name "World Bank Group" ( GBM).

Each institution plays a different role but collaborates with others to realize the vision of an inclusive and sustainable globalization. The World Bank Group consists of the following entities:

The (IBRD) International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which focuses its activities on middle-income countries and creditworthy poorer countries.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), established in 1956 and whose objectives are to assist least developed countries by promoting growth in the private sector and help to mobilize local and foreign capital for this purpose.

The International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960 with the purpose of providing loans to countries with annual per capita income less than $ 765.

The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), established in 1988 to "promote private foreign investment" in countries "developing."

The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which arises from the Convention for the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and between citizens of different states, signed in 1965. Its aim is to encourage increased investment flows, providing facilities for arbitration and conciliation of disputes between governments and foreign investors. Also carries out consultancy work, research and publication in the area of ​​foreign investment laws. Together these institutions offer low-interest loans, interest-free loans and grants to developing countries for various purposes, which include investments in education, health, public administration, infrastructure, financial sector development and private sector, agriculture and environmental management and natural resources.

WB decisions are made based on the votes of the member countries. Each country is a subscriber to a certain number of shares of capital stock, which gives it a certain number of votes which are distributed as follows: the United States with 17% of the votes, Japan 6.2% and Germany 4.8%. Among these three countries share 28.04% of the vote share higher than the 156 countries with the lowest participation (27.92%). Another group of eight