Founded in 1944, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development—soon called the World Bank—has expanded to a closely associated group of five development institutions.
Originally, its loans helped rebuild countries devastated by World War II.
In time, the focus shifted from reconstruction to development, with a heavy emphasis on infrastructure such as dams, electrical grids, irrigation systems, and roads.
The World Bank Group has set two goals for the world to achieve by 2030:
- End extreme poverty by decreasing the percentage of people living on less than $1.90 a day to no more than 3%
- Promote shared prosperity by fostering the income growth of the bottom 40% for every country
