首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Changes in the size of the World Bank’s operations refer to
Changes in the size of the World Bank’s operations refer to
admin
2008-12-13
53
问题
Changes in the size of the World Bank’s operations refer to
The World Bank is one of the major channels through which the development aid is passed from the industrial west to the poor and developing nations of the world. Its scale of operations is vast, which is why its lending program exceeds 7 billion a year and its work force numbers about 4,500.
In the last decade important changes have taken place in the size of the bank’s operations and in its emphasis of the lending policies. What immediately strikes anyone looking at the lending figures over the past ten years is the tremendous expansion in the bank’s loan program. This has increased from 1 billion to nearly 7 billion. The figure includes hard loans which are made at current rates of interest and soft loans which are allocated to poor countries at concessionary rates and usually channeled through the bank’s affiliate—the International Development Association.
In deciding the emphasis of its lending policy, the bank has had to take into account the population explosion which is occurring in many poor countries of the world. It is a fact that the fertility rate of poor countries is often very high. This is one of the main reasons for these countries’ remaining poor. Unfortunately, wide-ranging contraception programs do not usually reduce this rate because there is a strong and deeply rooted tradition among people in these countries to have big families. What the Bank discovered was that there was a link between economic and social development on the one hand, and reduction of fertility rate on the other. Thus, by improving basic health service, by introducing better nutrition, by increasing literacy, and by promoting more even income distribution in a poor country, a lower and more acceptable fertility rate would be achieved. This advance in thinking persuaded the bank to change its overall lending strategy. While previously it had concentrated on the big infrastructure projects, such as dams, roads and bridges, it began to switch to projects which directly improve the basic services of a country. There was a shift, if you like, from building dams to digging waterholes to provide clean water.
A second reason for the changes in the approach was that the bank had learned a bitter lesson from the project financed in the 1960s. Many of its major capital investments have scarcely touched the lives of the urban and rural poor. Nor had they created much employment. The projects did not have the trickle-down effect they had in industrialized countries. Instead, the huge dams, steel mills and so on were left as monuments to themselves. This redirection of its lending has meant that the bank has tended to support labor-intensive activities rather than capital-intensive ones both in rural and urban areas. There is a better chance in the first case that its funds will benefit the bottom 40% of a country’s population. The bank is also looking at ways of stimulating the growth of small businesses in many developing countries, since this would create employment opportunities for people with low incomes.
Being such a big and obvious target, the bank has often come under fire. For example, its officials have been taken to task for using the Concord Supersonic Aircraft so frequently, about 500 times in one year. Also the large growth in the organization’s personnel has not pleased some critics. A more substantial criticism has concerned the bank’s policy of setting annual targets for lending to specified countries. This could lead to a deterioration in the quality of loans, some say. One former bank official has said, "rather than encourage growth for its own sake, the bank should begin to think of itself less as a foreign aid agency and more of a financial deal maker combining official with private resources for its specific purposes."
Finally, some people maintain that the impact of the projects funded by the bank has been modest. When one looks around the world at regions or countries that have successfully transformed to industrial status, it seems that one should beware of overestimating the bank’s impact. Take Hong Kong as an example. Its changes have come about as a result of a trade offensive. The purpose has been to flood western markets with iow price goods made by capitalist methods of production. The example seems to indicate that some regions can prosper without the bank’s aid as well.
选项
A、biased
B、unfriendly
C、objective
D、sensational
答案
C
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/nKSO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
JohnCiardigothismaster’sdegreefromtheUniversityofMichiganin1939andhaspublishedmorethan40poems.
Whichofthefollowingindexrepresentssmall-companystocks?
A、tomeettheirbasicneedsinlifeB、toenjoyspendingmoneyC、foradifferentreasonfromtheonetheyclaimD、tosatisfythei
Listentothefollowingpassage.WriteinEnglishashortsummaryofaround150-200wordsofwhatyouhaveheard.Youwillhear
Accordingtothestudy,howmanysmokerssaidtheypreferredmentholcigarettes?
A、Theydoubtthisstudy.B、Theyarenotsurprised.C、Theyblametheresultonuniversity.D、Bothb&c.D本题为细节题。只要能把握文章中“Somestud
Thespeakermainlydiscusses______.
HowwastheBritisharchitecturestylecharacterizedintheearly20thcentury?
WhichofthefollowingisNOTtrueaboutthenewcapitalaccordingtothereport?
A、Detailedmapsfrompreviousstudies.B、Recentadvancesintechnology.C、Plentyoffundingforthestudy.D、Experiencecarrying
随机试题
Ifhewerereallyinterestedinbuyingtheapartment,Jack______anofferbeforenow.
牛带绦虫的头节上具有微小膜壳绦虫的头节上具有
根据《土地管理法》确立的土地用途管制制度,国家在编制土地利用总体规划时,对土地用途如何分类?
[2000年第128题]某新建的建筑物内,设有一条供残疾人使用的0.8m高的坡道,下列哪种处理方法正确?
当结构基本自振周期时T1=1.6s,风荷载脉动增大系数ξ最接近于______项数值。已知作用于90m高度屋面处的风荷载标准值ωk=1.55kN/m2,作用于90m高度屋面处的突出屋面小塔楼风荷载标准值△P90=600kN。假定风荷载沿高度是倒三角形
单位工程验收时,可不参加的单位是()。
商业银行应保证个人理财业务人员具备的资格包括()。
实施差异化战略的组织的人力资源重点是( )。
有下列语句s=Int(100*Rnd),执行完毕后,s的值是()。
A、Becausetherearenotenoughschools.B、Becauseschoolsdon’tusemoneyefficiently.C、Becausecitizenscouldnotaffordtheir
最新回复
(
0
)