ABSTRACT
Created in 1944, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) or “World Bank”, is a multilateral financial institution lending approximately US$20-30 billion annually to its member states. Bank funds come from member state capital that is “callable” or “paid-in,” from international capital markets, and income from interest and loan repayments. Loans are provided for projects such as roads, railways, and dams. From the early 1980s the World Bank began to increase its program loans. Known as Structural Adjustment Loans (SALs, now called Policy Based Loans) these aimed to restructure borrowers’ economies based on neoliberal economic tenets.
