Wold Bank And International Monatary Fund

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorUniversity, Bachelor's February 2002

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The World Bank and International Monetary Fund What is the World Bank and what is its purpose? The World Bank originated during World War II in preparation for postwar international financial and economic cooperation. Established in July 1944 at the Bretton Woods conference, the principal function of the World Bank was to assist in the reconstruction and development of its member countries. It was to promote private foreign investment and it was to make loans for productive purposes out of its own resources. In the early period of the World Bank's existence, loans were given to European countries to help reconstruct industries damaged during World War II. During the late 1960's loans were given to developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America . In the 1980's the bank gave direct attention to the poorest of people in developing nations, to help them raise productivity and provide themselves with necessities such as safe water, nutrition and waste disposal facilities.

The World Bank invests it's money in health, education, social development, governance and poverty reduction to help free this world of poverty. The goals of the World Bank are to fight poverty with a passion, help people help themselves and their environment by sharing knowledge, building capacity and forging partnerships in the public and private sectors. The World Bank is the largest source of financial assistance in the world, and it hopes to strengthen governments, the environment, and establish economic growth that is stable, sustainable and equitable. Today, more than ever, the Bank is playing an important role in the global policy arena. It is engaged with partners and clients in Bosnia, to post-crisis assistance in East Asia, to earthquake support in Turkey and in Kosovo and East Timor.

The World Bank raises its money for its development programs, by...