ABSTRACT
Financing for the construction of economic infrastructure such as transport, power generation and distribution, and irrigation and water supply has been sought by multilateral development banks (MDBs) borrowing members and was once a mainstay of MDB operations for those who lacked such infrastructure for economic development. This chapter reviews the functions of the MDBs, and discusses the issue of globalization and its impact on economic development and poverty reduction. The initial operational focus of the World Bank strongly reflected the conditions of the founding countries and their key representatives, creating an essentially North Atlantic and European institution. Transition to a free market is another important objective for countries that were once socialist economies.
