WORLD BANK CHIEF SAYS CRITICAL TO FUND AID TO POOR

Washington (Reuters) - The World Bank's fund-raising drive to help the world's poorest countries will require "a continued push" amid budget cuts by rich donors, head of the poverty-fighting agency Robert Zoellick said.

Failure by donors to provide enough resources for the World Bank's fund for the poor would "devastate" efforts to tackle global poverty, he said.

As rich donors face pressures to slash spending as they try to recover from the global financial crisis, the World Bank is tapping a deeper pool of emerging market donors that includes China and Brazil.

"In a time of budget cuts we will be working hard to build a global coalition to share the burden of this replenishment," Mr Zoellick told a news conference at the end of meetings with World Bank member countries.

"We are not just asking traditional donors to carry the load," he said.

The World Bank is currently in talks with donors to contribute fresh resources to its International Development Association, which provides grants and low-cost development loans to 79 of the world's poorest nations.

Mr Zoellick said a "robust" fund-raising effort could help immunize 200 million more children, extend health services to 30 million additional people, help build 80,000 kilometers of roads, and train and recruit over two million more teachers.

"Our challenge is at a time of budget stress we need to put together the coalition ... to show that we have everybody contributing and we are on the way to doing that but it will require continued push," he added.

The global financial crisis, which erupted shortly after food price crisis, has forced the World Bank to commit a record $140 billion since 2008 to help poor countries.

While developing countries have recovered relatively quickly from the crisis, they still face huge challenges to stimulate their economies and attract investment.

Asked whether donors should tax financial transactions to help raise money for poor countries, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said it would take time for governments to approve such a step and delay needed funds for the poor.

Development groups have estimated that a tax of at least 0.005 percent on international currency transactions could generate a minimum of $US30 billion ($A30.44 billion) if applied to the dollar, yen, euro and British pound”.

The concept is often called a Tobin Tax, after the economist who initiated the idea.

"I would not rely too much on this idea," Mr Strauss-Kahn told the news conference.

"It takes so much time to have it that finally you will never get the money for the goal you are looking at”.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urged the World Bank on Saturday to ensure that its lending was focused on results -- making sure money benefits the poorest and is not wasted on corruption.

"As many shareholders continue to face competing demands for domestic resources, our ability to effectively convey the strengths and contributions of the World Bank's efforts has never been more critical," he said in a statement to the Bank's Development Committee.

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