ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the role of the World Bank and the reform measures to be undertaken for the Bank. It emphasizes the fact that the World Bank’s place in the global institutional structure has to be examined primarily in terms of its nonfinancial role. The chapter addresses the issue of what is or what should be the particular and unique role of the World Bank in assisting the developing world. The substantive developmental justification for the restriction of Bank lending to the financing of projects stemmed from the emphasis given in the literature on economic development in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, to capital investment. The reform should be along two complementary lines: to recognize the much more significant role the World Bank should be playing in supporting programs of policy and institutional reform; and to develop voting, management, and staffing patterns that would make the Bank more acceptable politically in undertaking its policy responsibilities.
