International Bank For Reconstruction and Development - Membership

Membership

The IBRD is owned by 188 member countries which pay in capital, vote on matters of policy, and approve all of its activities. Each member state is a shareholder and the percentage of ownership share is determined by the size of its economy and the amount of capital contributed to support the Bank's borrowing activities among international capital markets. High-income member nations together hold a share of 65.92%. As of 2011, the United States is the IBRD's single largest shareholder with a share of 16.03%. Japan and Germany hold shares of 9.59% and 4.39% respectively, while each of France and the United Kingdom hold a share of 4.21%. The United States possesses exclusively the power to veto changes to the structure of the Bank. The IBRD's share capital amounted to approximately $190 billion in 2011. Membership in the IBRD is available only to countries who are members of the International Monetary Fund.

From 1970 to 2011, 25 borrowing countries graduated from their eligibility for IBRD lending, although six of these countries have relapsed as borrowers after not sustaining their graduate status. The IBRD program imposes a threshold based on gross national income per capita when determining a member state's eligibility to borrow. Member states maintain their eligibility to borrow from the IBRD until they can sustain long-term development without dependence on the Bank's concessional financing. To graduate, a country must demonstrate good institutional capacity and expands its own access to foreign capital markets such that it can sustain and finance its own development.