World Bank Group

The World Bank is an international organization dedicated to providing financing, advice, and research to developing nations to aid their economic advancement.
Currently, the World Bank has two stated goals that it aims to achieve by 2030.
- The first is to end extreme poverty by decreasing the number of people living on less than $1.90 a day to below 3% of the world population.
- The second is to increase overall prosperity by increasing income growth in the bottom 40% of every country in the world.
The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) were founded simultaneously in 1944 at the United Nations Bretton Woods Conference in the United States to support European and Asian countries in post-war reconstruction efforts.
The IMF and the World Bank are called Bretton Woods twins and are headquartered in Washington, D.C.

The World Bank Group consists of five organizations:
- International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD): an institution that provides debt financing to governments that are considered middle income.
- International Development Association (IDA): a group that gives interest-free loans to the governments of poor countries.
- International Finance Corporation (IFC): focuses on the private sector and provides developing countries with investment financing and financial advisory services.
- Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA): an organization that promotes foreign direct investments in developing countries.
- International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID): an entity that provides arbitration on international investment disputes.
At present, the World Bank Group has more than 180 member countries (including India).

The World Bank has decided to maintain its growth forecast for India in the fiscal year 2023-24 at 6.3 per cent. This decision comes as India continues to exhibit strong economic growth despite facing substantial external challenges.
The World Bank in its April report had cut India’s growth forecast for 2023-24 to 6.3 per cent from the earlier 6.6 per cent.
According to the World Bank’s latest India Development Update (IDU), the international financial institution’s flagship half-yearly report on the Indian economy, observed that despite significant global challenges, India was one of the fastest-growing major economies in 2022-23 at 7.2 percent.

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