14 September 2006

ActionAid welcomes the announcement by Hilary Benn that the UK will withhold £50 million of World Bank funding until the Bank stops imposing unjust conditions on the poorest countries. The UK must now work with other countries to build pressure on the Bank to make the necessary changes.

'Hilary Benn's threat to hit the Bank in the pocket is a positive move. We have been calling for many years for countries to be given the space they need to set their own economic policies. Next month, negotiations start for the new World Bank funding round. This will be the key test of the UK government's resolve to end harmful conditions in Bank programmes', said Patrick Watt, ActionAid's policy coordinator.