Lending:Quality Up

Lending By Region & Sector

Economic & Sector Work

Financial &
Operational Results

IBRD Financial Results

Money Fiscal 2001

IDA Operations

IBRD Operational Results

Lending: Quality Up, Volume Stable

• The quality of IBRD operations continued to improve: fewer ongoing projects were at risk of not achieving their development objectives compared with last year.
• The portfolio of ongoing projects (713) was smaller than last year’s (764), reflecting a decline in approvals of new operations (91 approved in fiscal 2001 compared with an annual average of 130 in the last five years) and efforts to ensure the timely completion of projects under implementation.
• As access to international capital markets continued to improve for many countries, IBRD lending stabilized at slightly below last year’s $10.9 billion.
• The share of adjustment lending continued to decline (38 percent in fiscal 2001, down from 41 percent in fiscal 2000 and 63 percent in fiscal 1999), approaching pre-East Asia crisis levels.

Lending by Region and Sector

• New IBRD lending commitments in fiscal 2001 were highest for the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Region ($4.8 billion), followed by the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Region ($2.2 billion).
• Latin American countries also accounted for close to 69 percent of IBRD’s adjustment lending, half of it in phased, programmatic support for medium-term policy reform and institution-building efforts (for example, fiscal and financial reform in Brazil, social sector reform in Peru, and bank restructuring in Jamaica).
• Human development was a high priority in fiscal 2001; the share of education, health/nutrition/population, and social protection lending in total IBRD lending increased to 21 percent ($2.2 billion) from 16 percent ($1.7 billion) in fiscal 2000. Most of the increase was concentrated in the LAC Region.
• IBRD lending also helped borrowers to strengthen their financial sector ($1.7 billion), improve public sector management ($1.4 billion), meet infrastructure needs ($2.7 billion, including $2.4 billion in the transport sector), and support the environment and rural development ($1.3 billion).

Economic and Sector Work (ESW)

• In fiscal 2001, 230 ESW products were delivered for IBRD-eligible countries—including 38 core diagnostic reports underpinning Country Assistance Strategies and adjustment lending (poverty assessments, country economic memoranda, public expenditure reviews, country financial accountability assessments, and country procurement assessments)—compared with 259 products in fiscal 2000.
• In addition, reports on the financial sector, rural development, social protection, and other sectors enhanced the design of projects and supported the dialogue on policy and institutional priorities.
• Twenty-seven ESW products were delivered for India, the year’s largest IBRD borrower. The ECA Region accounted for nearly 40 percent of ESW deliveries, with 44 country studies supplemented by 30 regional reports focusing on topics such as education, enterprise restructuring, and accession to the European Union.