The World Bank is one of the Bretton Woods institutions. The group, which consists of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, is named for the city of Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, where they were created at a 1944 summit between representatives from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and India. The World Bank promotes the original purpose of the decisions made at Bretton Woods: the facilitation of the international economy.
Lending
The World Bank was established at Bretton Woods because the end of World War II was in sight and the summit attendees worried about the devastation of Europe. The Bank was created to help with reviving Europe's economy and repairing the damage of the war. It did this by giving loans -- its first loan, in 1947, gave $250 million to France to rebuild. As of 2010, the bank loaned about $13 billion each year to developing countries in the form of interest-free credits.
Development Strategy
Loans from the World Bank have strings attached: the Bank monitors how each country spends the funds that it receives. The framework of the World Bank provides support for countries to which it lends to ensure that World Bank funds are not spent inefficiently or lost to corruption. The Bank studies the economy and political atmosphere of each country to which it intends to lend funds. The loan comes with a development strategy that the various institutions that comprise the World Bank will help the country follow.
Financial Services
The World Bank also helps developing countries to manage their money effectively. As part of its development strategies, the World Bank counsels the borrowing countries on developing their financial strategies. It helps them to develop their investment portfolios and teaches them about financial practices like risk management through hedging and derivatives trading. It gives continuing financial advice to its borrowing countries, advising them on managing investments and risk in addition to protecting against disasters with catastrophe bonds.
Data Collection
The World Bank draws on the experiences of countries that it has supplied funds to in the past to decide how a new borrower may best use its loan. It documents its experiences in data banks. The World Bank collects information about each borrowing country and how it uses World Bank funds. While the Bank collects this information primarily for its own use, it also shares its knowledge. The World Bank makes much of its data available to the public in online databases, and it also publishes its analysts' reports on emerging global trends.
