Demand for World Bank loans nears crisis levels

Lending forecast at 25bn for 2016 as developing countries struggle to cope with weakening global economy

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.

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