What is World Bank? Discuss its various objectives and role of its affiliated agencies.

The World Bank is an International Financial Institution that was established in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference.

The following are some of the main objectives behind the setting up of the World Bank:

1. To facilitate the task of reconstruction of the war-affected European countries.

2. To focus on the development of underdeveloped nations of the world.

3. To encourage investments in infrastructure development, agriculture, health and industry;

4. To eradicate poverty, increase the income of the poor and provide technological support.

The following are some of the affiliates of the World Bank:

1. MIGA: MIGA, or the Multinational Investment Guarantee Agency, was established in April 1988 with the objective of encouraging foreign direct investments in the less developed nations of the world. It also aims at insuring investors against political and noncommercial risks and providing advisory services. 

2. IFC: The IFC, or the International Finance Corporation, was formed in 1956 as a separate legal entity to provide finance to the private sector in developing nations. Although the IFC is an affiliate of the World Bank, it has its own funding, besides functions that are managed independently. 

3. IDA: The IDA, or the International Development Association, was established in 1960 with the affiliation to the World Bank. The basic objective of the association is to provide loans and grants on a soft-loan basis to the less developed member countries—it aims at providing loans at concessional rates to the member countries whose per capita income is very low. It is because of this objective that the IDA is also known as the World Bank’s soft-loan window.

The World Bank was established in 1944, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), is the common name of World Bank, which was formed as a result of the Bretton Woods Conference. The main objectives behind setting up this international organization to aid the task of reconstruction of the war-affected economics of Europe and assist in the development of the underdeveloped nations of the world, Till late 1950s, the World Bank remained preoccupied with the task of restoring wartorn nations in Europe after which it turned its attention to the development of underdeveloped nations. Various objectives and roles of its affiliated agencies are given below International Development Association (IDA)

The main objectives of IDA are:

1. It provides finance on easy terms. 

2. It provides help in poverty alleviation. 

3. It provides help in economic development programmes. 

4. Extend macroeconomic management services.

The Multinational Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) Major objectives of MIGA are:

1. To encourage flow of direct foreign investment into the less developed member countries. 

2. To provide insurance cover to investors against political risks. 

3. To provide guarantee against non-commercial risks (like dangers involved in currency transfer, war and civil disturbances and ,breach of contract). 

4. To insure new investments, expansion of existing investments, privatization and financial restructuring. 

5. To provide promotional and advisory services.

6. To establish credibility.

We can conclude that the World Bank is no longer confined to simply providing financial assistance for infrastructure development, agriculture, industry, health and sanitation and is involved in areas like removal of rural poverty through raising productivity, providing technical support, and initiating research and cooperative ventures.