Washington, DC (BBN)- The World Bank’s East Asia and Pacific regional vice president Jim Adams has confirmed the Bank’s support for countries in East Asia to deal with the global financial turmoil
“We stand ready to support all of our member countries across East Asia to deal with the challenges arising from the financial crisis,” Mr Adams said, according to a World Bank press statement. “The World Bank is also supporting the initiatives of ASEAN members to share information and develop a coordinated response in close cooperation with the ASEAN Secretariat.
The World Bank is committed to helping governments and the private sector manage the impacts of the global financial crisis by providing increased lending, equity investments, innovative new tools, and safety net programs.
The World Bank has the financial capacity to comfortably double its middle-income lending arm (IBRD) to developing countries to meet additional demand from partner countries. IBRD lending was US$13.5 billion last fiscal year, according to the statement.
The World Bank’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) is considering setting up a special fund that would provide equity to recapitalize small to medium-sized banks in poor countries with insufficient government capacity to help inoculate them from global financial market turmoil.
The IFC might contribute around $1 billion and seek to raise another $2 billion or more from various sources including international financial institutions (IFIs), commercial banks, bilateral government financial agencies and other investors.
BBN/SI/SS/AD-16October08-10:17 AM (BST)