ABSTRACT
Interpreting World Bank projects is not straightforward. Within the Bank, differing perspectives on project lending cloud the meaning and significance accorded them by the Bank. For some executive directors and members of senior management, projects are a mere vehicle for the disbursing of foreign exchange to developing countries. Such a perspective places a premium on the Bank’s capacity to ‘punish’ or ‘reward’ borrowers, with speedy or protracted loan negotiations, approvals and loan money disbursements. Accordingly, project content and the quality of project implementation is incidental to the more important business of regulating the flow of foreign exchange to borrowers, and adherents to this view frequently become impatient with ‘project perfectionism’ within the Bank.
