IDA at 65: Heading Toward Retirement or a Fragile Lease on Life?

Even under conservative assumptions, IDA will likely face a wave of country graduations by 2025. We project that it will lose more than half of its client countries and that the total population living in IDA-eligible countries will plunge by two- thirds. The remaining IDA-eligible countries will be significantly smaller in size and overwhelmingly African, and a majority are currently considered fragile or post- conflict. This drastically altered client base will have significant implications for IDA’s operational and financial models. We conclude with three possible options for IDA and recommend that World Bank shareholders and management begin frank discussions on its future sooner rather than later. [Working Paper 246] URL: [http://www.cgdev.org/content/publications/detail/1424903/]