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A Guide to the World Bank
1961
The Bank loans $80 million to Japan to finance the bullet train. IDA extends its first development credit—$9 million—to Honduras for highway development.
1962
IFC establishes an advisory panel of investment bankers. The Bank makes its first education loan, a $5 million IDA credit to Tunisia for school construction. IFC makes its first equity investment in Fabrica Española Magentos S.A. of Spain.
1963
The Bank launches the Junior Professional Recruitment and Training Program (now the Young Professionals Program). Eighteen newly independent African countries join the Bank.
1966
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) is established.
1967
Developing countries form the Group of 77 as a convention and a negotiation arm. France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States form the Group of Five to convene meetings of finance ministers and governors of central banks. (The group became the Group of Seven in 1976 with the addition of Canada and Italy. This group, with the addition of the Russian Federation, is now known as the Group of Eight.)
1970
The Bank makes its first loan for population planning—$2 million—to Jamaica. The Bank’s new commitments exceed $2 billion for the first time.
1971
Japan becomes one of the Bank’s five largest shareholders. The Bank makes its first loan for pollution control—$15 million—to Brazil.
1972
The Bank redeploys project and program staff members into regional departments to enable the institution to function more effectively. The World Bank Group Staff Association comes into existence.
1974
The Interim Committee of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Development Committee are established to advise the Boards of Governors. The position of director general of operations evaluation is established to ensure independent evaluation of projects and programs. President Robert S. McNamara delivers a speech at the Annual Meetings at which, for the first time, poverty is placed at the top of the Bank’s agenda.
1975
IBRD and IDA commit nearly $1 billion in one fiscal year for rural development projects. Shirley Boskey is appointed as the Bank’s first female manager at the director level (International Relations Department). (The diversity strategy is extended in 1998 to include gender, nationality, race, sexual orientation, culture, and disability.) IFC’s first major commercial loans are syndicated for projects in Brazil and the Republic of Korea.