Demand for loans from the World Bank has reached levels unsurpassed outside of financial crises as developing countries struggle to cope with the weakness of the global economy.

Ahead of its half-yearly spring meeting in Washington later this week, the Bank said it expected to lend more than $150bn (£105bn) in the four years from 2013 – a period when global economic activity repeatedly failed to match expectations.

The Bank said its growth forecast of 2.9% for 2016 already looked under threat after a deterioration in the outlook since the start of the year, adding that it was increasing its financial help to both middle-income and the least-developed countries.

Those developing countries that rely heavily on exports of commodities have been hard hit over the past two years by the slowdown in China, which has led to a crash in the cost of oil and industrial metals.

“We are in a global economy where growth is expected to remain weak, so it is critically important that the World Bank play our traditional role of helping developing countries accelerate growth,” said Jim Yong Kim, the bank’s president.



“We have an historic opportunity to end extreme poverty in the world by 2030 but the only way we can achieve this goal is if developing countries – from middle-income to low-income nations – get back on the path of faster growth that helps the poorest and most vulnerable.”

The global crisis of 2008-09 led to a surge in World Bank lending to middle-income countries that struggled as trade flows and industrial production fell at rates similar to those in the early stages of the Great Depression.

Demand for loans subsequently fell back from a peak of $44bn in 2010 to $15bn in 2013, although the Bank said it had risen to $23.5bn in 2015 and would top $25bn in 2016.

The Bank also provides concessional loans to the least-developed countries through its International Development Association, financed by regular donations from western governments. Support for the poorest countries was expected to be near historic levels this year, the Bank said, adding that demand for non-lending advisory services, to help clients implement important policy changes, was also higher than ever.

An important portion of current lending support has been in the form of development policy financing, which has backed important reforms client countries have been implementing to help diversify sources of growth and buffer against future shocks.

“The use of these types of loans are important because the Bank is basically signalling to the financial markets that a country’s reforms are technically solid, the country will follow through on these commitments, and the reforms will help and not hurt the poor and vulnerable,” Kim said.

He added that the financing provided by the Bank was “highly complementary” to the efforts of the International Monetary Fund to provide developing countries with stable macroeconomic policies.

The Bank said two-thirds of global poverty reduction in the last half-century had been the result of faster growth, and that explained why it was using its financial clout to support policies in developing countries that led to a more rapid expansion in output.