WASHINGTON, D.C., August 19, 2025 – The World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD, Aaa/AAA) today priced a USD 5 billion benchmark bond that matures in August 2035. The World Bank’s successful USD bond attracted its largest ever 10-year order book with investors around the world.
With more than 180 investor orders, the transaction attracted over USD 13 billion high-quality investor orders, primarily driven by bank treasuries, central banks/official institutions, and asset managers.
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 7, 2025 – The World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD, Aaa/AAA) today priced a 5-year British pound sterling (GBP) benchmark maturing in October 2030. The Sustainable Development Bond raised GBP 1.5 billion from investors globally to support the financing of the World Bank’s sustainable development activities in member countries.
New Equity-to-Loans Ratio and other measures could enable $150 bln over 10 years
WASHINGTON, October 15, 2024—The World Bank Group announced on Tuesday a package of financial measures that will boost lending capacity and make loans from the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development more affordable at a time of immense development need. Combined with previous reforms, the package could enable more than $150 billion in additional financing over 10 years.
Two key elements announced today are:
The minimum Equity-to-Loans ratio is being lowered to 18% from 19%, generating $30 billion more in additional financing.
In an effort to be a better partner to the countries we serve, we have removed some fees so they can borrow money and pay it back more easily. And we are charging less for loans to smaller countries that need our help the most. Together, these steps will make our loans easier to get and cheaper to repay.
“These new financial measures will boost our lending capacity and enable us to drive meaningful change in the lives of people. Our Equity-to-Loans change is the latest step of sustained effort, and whenever we are able to responsibly secure additional optimization to IBRD’s balance sheet – we will,” said World Bank Group President Ajay Banga.
IBRD was able to secure an additional percent reduction in its Equity-to-Loans ratio because of new protections that safeguard its triple-A rating. These include a strengthened IBRD credit rating monitoring system with contingency measures to restore IBRD’s financial health in a stress event. Contingency measures include cutting costs, adjusting lending volumes, raising loan prices, suspending income transfers, and possibly additional shareholder support.
In a move to better serve countries and ease costs, financing term changes include introducing a grace period for paying commitment fees on undisbursed balances, removing the pre-payment premium to widen clients’ repayment options, introducing discounted pricing for short maturity loans with a final maturity of seven years, and extending IBRD’s lowest pricing to more vulnerable, small states.
The latest package includes a new way to enhance the value of callable capital, part of stakeholders’ capital that can be called on in extreme circumstances. In a first for development banks, this Enhanced Callable Capital is a portion of callable capital that can be leveraged like equity and called on earlier if the Bank’s rating is under pressure. Shareholders can now sign up for this instrument.
The World Bank Group has implemented a series of reforms and developed innovative financial instruments as part of the Capital Adequacy Framework review, which was recommended by the G20 Expert Group. These reforms include:
A shareholder hybrid capital product and a Portfolio Guarantee Platform – expanding lending by $70 billion over 10 years thanks to the generosity of 12 donors.
The adjustment of the minimum Equity-to-Loans ratio since April 2023 adds $70 billion in additional capacity over 10 years.
Increased limits for shareholder bilateral guarantees by up to $10 billion.
PRESS RELEASE NO: 2025/023/MDCFO
Contacts
In Washington: David Young (202) 473-4691 dyoung7@worldbankgroup.org
Small businesses can play an impactful role in fragile and conflict affected situations (FCS). They can create jobs and directly provide necessity goods and services such as food, water, health, education, and transportation. They can also contribute to the resilience of local populations during periods of conflict.
However, small businesses operating in FCS countries endure numerous setbacks to their activity, from frequent electricity cuts to bribery to armed attacks. Surviving and growing in these situations is difficult. Navigating daily challenges without access to affordable credit is almost impossible.
Figure 1. Access and use of financial services by SMEs
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Source: Author’s elaboration on WBES data
What drives SME financial exclusion in FCS countries vis-à-vis non-FCS countries? In a recent paper we examine this question, focusing in particular on the role of economic fundamentals and institutional factors. Economic fundamentals matter for SME financial inclusion. Higher incomes and better physical infrastructure increase savings and the pool of funds in the economy and improve access to finance while macroeconomic and financial stability can positively affect credit and other financial services to SMEs.
Institutions—the rules of the game in a society—matter too. Institutions influence the development of entrepreneurship and can support SME financial inclusion by improving the information environment and strengthening contract enforcement, as well as supporting equal treatment of firms in access to financial services.
On both counts, FCS countries generally lag behind non-FCS countries, especially, as would be expected, in terms of institutional development (figure 2). But what do we find in the data?
Figure 4. Macroeconomic, financial sector, institutional and business environment features
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Source: Author’s elaboration on WDI, GFD, WGI, WDI, Heritage Foundation
The results of our analysis show that output growth has a negative impact on SME financial inclusion in FCS countries, probably reflecting demand for countercyclical finance — typically backed by the government — by financially constrained SMEs that otherwise tend to resort to internal funds to finance their operations and investment.
On the other hand, price stability, a key sign of macroeconomic stability, is associated with higher SME financial inclusion in FCS countries. Moreover, access and usage of financial services by SMEs in FCS countries tends to increase with economic development, for example, income levels.
Other economic fundamentals also play a role in SME financial inclusion in FCS countries. Economies with large informal sectors tend to face tighter constraints on SME financial inclusion. Similarly, the lack of economic diversification also has a significant impact. Financial sector characteristics also affect SME access and usage of finance. The quantity of financial intermediation, such as deeper credit markets, helps enhance SME financial inclusion, and this is particularly important in FCS contexts.
The quality of financial intermediation is equally important because government and state-owned enterprise financing can crowd out credit to the private sector, including SMEs. In our sample of FCS countries, available credit tends to go proportionally more to the public sector than the private sector compared to non-FCS countries. Our analysis suggests that a significant role is played by crowding out effects in FCS countries. A lack of competition among banks reduces SME financial inclusion in FCS countries. Reducing banking market concentration is found to have a positive impact on SME access and usage of formal financial services in FCS countries. Finally, banking sector soundness, as measured by the quality of lending (NPL ratio), significantly and strongly supports SME financial inclusion.
Turning to institutional factors, strong governance and stable institutions exert a significant influence on SME access and usage of formal financial services in FCS countries. Voice and accountability, political stability, government effectiveness, and control of corruption are all positively correlated with SME financial inclusion. The importance of government effectiveness and control of corruption is particularly strong for FCS countries.
Credit information is also a key factor for SME financial inclusion. Rules affecting the scope, accessibility, and quality of credit information available through public or private credit registries can greatly facilitate banking relationships, and they are especially important for FCS countries.
Constraints to the quality of contract enforcement, property rights, and the effectiveness of courts, as well as to the ability of the authorities to formulate and implement policies and regulations that permit and promote private sector development, are negatively correlated with SME access and usage of formal financial services. Their impact is significantly stronger for FCS countries, suggesting that improvements in the overall business environment can have relatively sizable effects on SME financial inclusion in those countries.
In this month’s edition of IFC Insights, we focus on the power of connections. While the proliferation of new technologies has increased the ease and possibilities of connectivity across the globe, the access to and uptake of these tools has not always been evenly spread.
Our upcoming Spring Meetings will focus on Reshaping Development for a New Era – this is an excellent opportunity to take stock of progress being made to tackle the many challenges facing global development, including climate change.
WASHINGTON, March 23, 2023—World Bank Group President David Malpass today announced a new approach to strengthen private sectors and the delivery of Private Capital Facilitation in World Bank Group operations and knowledge work aimed at increasing growth and the resources available for development and climate costs.
Domestic food price inflation remains high around the world. Information from the latest month between October 2022 and January 2023 for which food price inflation data are available shows high inflation in almost all low- and middle-income countries, with inflation levels above 5% in 88.9% of low-income countries, 87.8% of lower-middle-income countries, and 93.0% of upper-middle-income countries and many experiencing double-digit inflation. In addition, about 87.3% of high-income countries are experiencing high food price inflation. The countries affected most are in Africa, North America, Latin America, South Asia, Europe, and Central Asia.
next pandemic? 
proliferation of new technologies has increased the ease and possibilities of connectivity across the globe, the access to and uptake of these tools has not always been evenly spread. 
an excellent opportunity to take stock of progress being made to tackle the many challenges facing global development, including climate change.
Netherlands for the World Bank 
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