The world bank is not a single institution but a group of five international finance and regulatory bodies that function to provide financial services and advice to governments around the world. While the bank initially was designed to provide reconstruction loans in the wake of WWII, the primary aims of the group today are economic development, poverty reduction, and the protection of the international investment market.

The motto of the World Bank Group is “a dream of a world without poverty,” but historically the goals of the institution were the physical reconstruction of war-devastated countries after World War II. However, by the 1960s these reconstruction efforts were effectively complete and economic development and poverty reduction in poor countries became the primary focus for the Bank's efforts. ...