The World Bank Group yesterday announced that its financing commitments in roads, bridges, energy, clean water, and other critical infrastructure projects grew by 45 per cent to $24.2 billion in the fiscal year 2014, up from $16.7 billion in the previous year.
The jump in financing was due to increased demand from developing countries, a statement obtained from the global bank by our correspondent in New York said.
According to the statement, the increase comes against a backdrop of an overall decline in private sector investment in infrastructure across the developing world. Such investments–including through public-private partnerships–are considered critical in reducing poverty. Commitments to public-private partnerships (PPPs) and fully private projects declined by nearly 20 per cent, from $181 billion in 2012, to $146 billion in 2013, according to World Bank Group estimates.
The increase in World Bank Group financing marks the highest level of infrastructure-related lending by the World Bank Group since 2011, with the bulk of investment focused on energy and transport projects. Reacting to the announcement, World Bank President, Dr Jim Yong Kim, said that it was clear developing countries badly needed more infrastructure, stressing that the bank was stepping up with more financing to provide clean drinking water for families, electricity so that children could study at night, and better roads so that farmers could get goods to markets.
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