America Welcomes World Bank Reforms

The United States welcomed the World Bank's plans on Monday to increase annual lending by five billion dollars to middle-income countries to combat climate change and other global crises over the next ten years. A senior Treasury official told Reuters, "It is expected that the members of the World Bank's Board of Governors will approve the long-awaited plan during their semi-annual meeting next week," urging the bank's management to develop clear plans for further reforms. He confirmed that the plans to be approved next week will boost the World Bank's International Bank for Reconstruction and Development's lending capacity for middle-income countries by about 20 percent, describing it as "real money." Another Treasury official stated, "We need to maintain ambition." He added that the United States is pressuring the bank to implement additional concrete reforms along with a timetable for execution.