Trump's budget includes $3.2 billion for World Bank's fund for poorest countries

Washington: President Donald Trump on Friday asked Congress to approve $3.2 billion in contributions to the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA), which provides low- or zero-interest loans to the world's poorest countries.

International finance experts hailed the sum, to be paid over three years, as a welcome surprise, given recent worries that Trump could skip making any contribution to IDA.

Former President Joe Biden had pledged to contribute $4 billion, but that money has not yet been transferred.

The new amount is lower, but will still help the World Bank get close to its goal of raising $100 billion for IDA by leveraging countries' contributions, sources familiar with the process said. The final decision rests with the U.S. Congress.

Asked if the Trump administration would stick to the $4 billion pledge, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had indicated the sum would be decided in the budget, with much depending on actions by World Bank President Ajay Banga and the head of the International Monetary Fund aimed at re-focusing the institutions on their core missions.

Clemence Landers, vice president at the Center for Global Development, welcomed the amount proposed for IDA.

“The US IDA number stands out as a rare bright spot in a budget full of drastic cuts to the US foreign assistance apparatus," she said. "There has been significant speculation about the US role in the international financial institutions under Trump, and whether the US would pay into IDA at all."

The budget proposal unveiled by Trump on Friday cuts foreign aid by $49 billion, a senior official with the Office of Management and Budget told reporters.

Documents released by the White House showed a cut of $555 million in funds for the African Development Bank and the African Development Fund, saying it was "not currently aligned" to the administration's priorities.

The budget proposal did include the $3.2 billion for IDA, adding other donors and institutions should take on more of the costs.

"This fulfills the President’s promise to no longer dole out foreign aid dollars with no return on investment for the American people," the document said.