International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Abstract

The fourteenth annual report of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, covering the fiscal year July 1, 1958, to June 30, 1959, was presented to the Board of Governors on September 28, 1959. The report noted that the year under review had been one of considerable adversity for many of the Bank's member countries, with foreign exchange difficulties having been the rule rather than the exception for the less developed nations. Nevertheless, although export earnings had declined, the inflow of both public and private capital from the developed areas had been well maintained. The Bank's lending for the period under review had continued at the high level reached in the previous fiscal year, as it had made 30 loans totaling $703 million. Half of the year's lending activities had been concentrated in Asia, amounting to $354 million, while the balance had been made up of $136.5 million for Latin America, $110.6 million for Africa, and $102 million for Europe. As in previous years, lending operations had emphasized the strengthening of basic services, with electric power development representing the largest objective and accounting for $294 million of the total. Transportation improvement, mainly in railways, had accounted for $257.2 million; loans for industry, largely steel, paper, and mining, had totaled $149 million; and loans for agricultural development had amounted to $3.5 million.