In 1956, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) was established to focus exclusively on the private sector, and in 1960 the International Development Association (IDA) was created to provide resources for less creditworthy members. The Bank also initiated a technical assistance program and in 1955 established the Economic Development Institute to provide training to officials from member countries.ĭuring the early years, the Bank evolved to meet the needs of its members. The first loan to a non-European country was to Chile in 1948 for $13.5M USD for hydroelectric power generation. But when the 1947 Marshall Plan took over post-war reconstruction efforts in Europe, the Bank quickly shifted to funding infrastructure projects around the world in sectors such as power, irrigation, and transportation. The Bank’s first loan was to France and loans to other European countries followed. Its articles of agreement - primarily drafted by John Maynard Keynes – included rebuilding the economies of countries devastated by war and increasing the economic development of developing countries. The work of the World Bank Commission, on the other hand, occurred only in the last few days of the conference. The majority of time and effort was spent on the IMF Commission under Harry Dexter White’s leadership. While the conference resulted in the formation of two institutions, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), the creation of the World Bank was not the primary focus. The intellectual leaders at the conference were John Maynard Keynes (Adviser to the Treasury in the United Kingdom), and Harry Dexter White (Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the United States).

The conference aimed to create the framework for post-war international economic cooperation and reconstruction.

In July 1944 – one year before the end of World War II – delegates from 44 countries met for the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference held at the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.

A short history of reconstruction