World Bank Vows to Stand Behind Poor

The head of the World Bank cautioned yesterday that the economic crisis could hit developing countries the hardest, and pledged the bank’s support in helping those nations protect their poor, reports AP. Bank president Robert Zoellick warned that aid to impoverished regions must continue to flow even as the US and Europe struggle to bail out their own economies.

Developing nations will have different needs than wealthier countries as they respond to the “man-made catastrophe” of the global meltdown, and the World Bank must adopt a flexible approach to address those needs, said Zeillick. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has said the US won’t cut off “goods, services or capital” to needy countries, as such a move “would only intensify the risks of a prolonged crisis.”
(More financial crisis stories.)