The World Bank in times of crisis: too many commitments and few disbursements

Introduction
In the context of the global economic and financial crisis the Bretton Woods financial institutions - the IMF and the World Bank - have increased the amount of their operations. The decisions of the G20 summit in Washington (November 2008) and London (April 2009) legitimized the activity of these institutions in response to the crisis, with the promise of additional resources. During the last fiscal year from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009, the Bank's activity was defined mainly by the global financial and economic crisis and the effects it caused in low and middle income countries. This emphasis is reflected in the figures committed by the institution and the range of implemented initiatives. However, it is necessary to look at what is behind the announced figures to see if there are really significant additional disbursements.
Given the history of the Bank's conditionalities it is also necessary to take into account the Bank's current policy in this area. Several studies by civil society organizations have highlighted the detrimental effects of the recommended policies that followed the Washington Consensus Decalogue, and the loss of sovereignty that developing countries experimented because of them. Today, the official discourse of both the IMF and the WB points to the flexibility and the reduction of conditionalities attached to their operations. However, as evidenced by recent studies conducted by social organizations, "there has been some limited progress, but the process is slow and gradual."1 This paper is divided in three sections. First, we present a brief analysis of the effects of the crisis at the global level and for Latin America in particular. Second, based on the figures from the Bank itself, we present an analysis of their business operations by type, region and sector, with regard to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), which provides financing to middle income countries and creditworthy poor countries, and to the International Development Association (IDA), which facilitates grants and interest free loans to poor countries. Finally, we raise some challenges in terms of monitoring the Bank's activities and policies.download