World Bank lending soars to $59 billion

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The World Bank said on Wednesday its lending soared 54 percent to a record $59 billion (35.8 billion pounds) in the fiscal year ended June 30, as more developing countries rocked by the global financial crisis turned to it for aid.

"Requests for assistance from the World Bank Group rose sharply this year, and we expect this to continue well into 2010, as the pace of recovery is far from certain," World Bank President Robert Zoellick said in a statement.

The poverty-fighting institution said it supported 767 projects to shore up growth, fight poverty and help the private sector, including $20.7 billion in infrastructure financing, during the year from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009.

Commitments from the World Bank's fund that assists 79 of the world's poorest countries, the International Development Association, rose 25 percent to $14 billion from $11.2 billion in the previous fiscal year.

Lending to emerging market countries from the World Bank's International Bank for Reconstruction and Development more than doubled to $32.9 billion from $13.5 billion.

The largest share of both IDA and IBRD lending went to Latin America for a total of $14 billion, followed by Europe and Central Asia at $9.4 billion, then Sub-Saharan Africa at $8.3 billion.

Zoellick warned on Tuesday that developing countries, which at first looked as though they may not be affected by the crisis, were now feeling the full effects of the downturn through a sharp decline in demand and private capital flows.

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by James Dalgleish)