Bleak IDA-7 Prospects

Bleak IDA-7 Prospects I S G TO understand the current situation, let us start with a bit of past history. The sixth replenishment (IDA-6) of the International Development Association, the soft loan window of the World Bank, was settled at $12 billion. This amount was to be contributed over a three-year period, 1980-81 to 1983, in successive tranches of at least 29 per cent, 33 per cent and 38 per cent of the total. The US contribution was fixed at $ 3.24 billion which works out to 27 per cent of the total amount to he raised. This itself was low in relative terms, being lower than the proportion of the US contribution to IDA replenishment in the past. Thus of the amounts of subscriptions and supplementary resources raised through IDA-5, the US contribution works out to 36 per cent.