The World Bank's full name is the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Its function is to provide a mechanism for supplying for long periods of time —20 or 30 years — the foreign exchange needed to rebuild and develop economies. It has been recognized that buying equipment from abroad provides a short cut to development， but that is impossible for a country without substantial exports to obtain the currency needed to buy such equipment. By offering long-term financing， the Bank is expected to accelerate the growth of economies in this category.

　　世界銀行的全稱是國際復(fù)興與開發(fā)銀行。其職能是為重建與開發(fā)經(jīng)濟所需的長期外匯——二十年或三十年——提供一種融資機制。人們認識到，從國外購置設(shè)備是一條發(fā)展的捷徑，但是，對于一個缺乏具體出口商品以獲得購買此類設(shè)備所需外匯的國家來說，這是行不通的。銀行通過提供長期融資，可以加快這個地區(qū)的經(jīng)濟增長。

　　The World Bank obtains the money it lends from three sources. When it was founded， members were required to subscribe to its capitalization. Each was assigned a block of stock in proportion to its Gross National Product.

　　世界銀行的貸款資金有三個來源。在創(chuàng)辦時，它要求成員國認購股份，提供資本金。每個國家可以按其國民生產(chǎn)總值的一定比例分配到一定份額的股份。

　　Ten percent of the subscription was to be paid to the Bank in cash， and the remainder was to be paid if the Bank needed it to cover its financial problems. The second source is private lenders. The 90 percent of subscriptions served as a guarantee for the Bank‘s own borrowing and thus enabled it to compete with the U.S. government，blue-chip private corporations， and other high-quality debtors in borrowing from the public. The money it obtained from borrowing was then lent to needy nations. In this way the Bank pledged the honor and the resources of all its members to repay loans to developing or war-torn countries. If the borrower defaulted， the Bank would first use up the money paid in by its member countries，then call on them to contribute more. A third source of money has since emerged —— the “profits”from interest paid by borrowers from the Bank. By charging interest on money contributed initially by member countries， the Bank has succeeded in roughly doubling these contributions.　　

　　10%的股金用現(xiàn)金支付給世界銀行，剩余的股金待碰到經(jīng)濟難題需要資金時再行支付。第二個資金來源是私人貸款者。90%的股金作為銀行本身借貸的擔(dān)保，從而使世界銀行能夠同美國政府，業(yè)績優(yōu)良的私人公司以及其他向公眾籌資、信譽可靠的貸款者進行競爭。世界銀行再用籌措來的資金貸給那些貧窮的國家，這樣，等于向那些發(fā)展中或遭受戰(zhàn)爭創(chuàng)傷的所有成員國償還貸款提供了信譽和資源保障。如借款人資不抵債，銀行首先用其成員國繳納的資金全力給予支持，然后要求其成員國再追加認購股金。資金的第三個來源是后來產(chǎn)才產(chǎn)生的“利潤”——即借款人向銀行償付的利息。對使用股金收取利息，銀行已成功地將股金增長了近一倍。

　　Most of the loans the Bank made have been for projects designed to improve the infrastructure， primarily improvements in transportation， communications，and energy. Since the late 1960s， the Bank has expanded its activities to include housing，education， credit to farmers， irrigation， and a variety of other projects with more direct effects on individuals， particularly the very poor.

　　絕大部分貸款用于那些為改善基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施而設(shè)計的工程項目，主要用于改善交通、通訊以及能源等基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施。自20世紀60年代后期，該銀行已將其經(jīng)營活動擴大到包括住房、教育、農(nóng)業(yè)貸款、灌溉，以及其他各種各樣的項目，對個人、尤其是對窮人產(chǎn)生更加直接的影響。