World Bank Group Timeline

Following a deterioration in India's balance of payments, the first India Aid Consortium meeting was scheduled to meet in Washington, DC. At this time, India, the World Bank, and other low-income countries were becoming increasingly aware of the limits of available development assistance. Developing countries were facing mounting debt burdens meaning that, due to issues of creditworthiness and the World Bank's lending policies, the Bank was hindered in its efforts to continue financing development efforts. Throughout the previous decade, countries such as India had been arguing that they needed more funds to facilitate their development plans and that limitation on existing avenues for development assistance would be extremely challenging. As a result of this and subsequent consortium meetings, India received the immediate financial aid it required. However, it also served as a clear indicator that a new mechanism for raising and providing development assistance to less-creditworthy countries was sorely needed.