Britain Tops US in Funding for World Bank

Institution raises record $25.1B for globe's poorest countries
By Zach Samalin,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 14, 2007 3:15 PM CST
Britain Tops US in Funding for World Bank
President of the World Bank Robert Zoellick, left, gestures while talking to European Union Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, right, during their meeting at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Monday Nov. 19, 2007. (AP Photo/Thierry Charlier)   (Associated Press)

Great Britain has supplanted the United States as the largest contributor to the World Bank, pledging $4.2 billion of the total $25.1 billion raised for the world's poorest nations, a record high. The shift in power reflects both the dollar's waning dominance as well as an end to US-Europe tensions following Paul Wolfowitz's resignation, the Times reports.

The donations—including contributions from former recipients China and Egypt—are a feather in the cap of current bank president Robert Zoellick, who has striven to heal wounds created by Wolfowitz's departure. “The atmosphere has improved and become more trusting,” said a German deputy minister. “He has shown a clear vision for the future of the bank.” (More World Bank stories.)

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