The IBRD or International Bank for Reconstruction and Development is made up of five different institutions one of which is the World Bank Group. Originally this bank was set up in order to help with financing the reconstruction of the different nations which had been ruined during World War II. But in recent years its main mission has been to try and help fight poverty in those countries and states where financial aide is required not just Africa and South America but also to Eastern European countries since the dissolution of the Soviet state. It is now the foremost of all the international banks to be found in the world today.

This bank maintains its operations through the payments which are regulated by the member states of the group. The bank came into existence on the 27 December 1945. This was after ratification of international agreements during the conference held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA during the 1 and 22 July 1944. The conference was known as the United Nations Monetary and Financial conference.

Any loans that the IBRD provides to governments or public enterprises is always secured with a government (sovereign) guarantee that such loans will be repaid. Any such funding for these kinds of loans will generally come from the bank issuing World Bank bonds on to various global capital markets. Generally these loans are typically between $12 and $15 billion each year. All these bonds will have a AAA rating (which is the highest rating any bond can be provided with). The reason for such a high rating is because all loans will have not only been backed by the member states of the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development but also by the borrower’s guarantee (which is mentioned above).

As the IBRD has such a good credit rating when it comes to obtaining loans from this bank means that the rates of interest charged by them are relatively low. Certainly compared to other international banks, the IBRD is probably a bank which is able to offer very attractive rates of interest to those countries which are desperately in need of funds to improve the infrastructure of their country.