Dollar Deflation: World Bank Loan Demand at Crisis Levels

Guardian: Demand for World Bank loans nears crisis levels

Demand for loans from the World Bank has reached levels unsurpassed outside of financial crises as developing countries struggle to cope with the weakness of the global economy.

Ahead of its half-yearly spring meeting in Washington later this week, the Bank said it expected to lend more than $150bn (£105bn) in the four years from 2013 – a period when global economic activity repeatedly failed to match expectations.

...The global crisis of 2008-09 led to a surge in World Bank lending to middle-income countries that struggled as trade flows and industrial production fell at rates similar to those in the early stages of the Great Depression.

Demand for loans subsequently fell back from a peak of $44bn in 2010 to $15bn in 2013, although the Bank said it had risen to $23.5bn in 2015 and would top $25bn in 2016.