International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde, left, chats with Russian deputy Finance Minister Sergey Storchak during a Deauville partnership meeting in Marseille, southern France, Saturday, Sept.10, 2011. The Deauville Partnership is a multi-billion-dollar program of aid and credit to Egypt and Tunisia that was agreed at a G8 summit in Deauville last May. Rich countries and international lenders are aiming to provide $40 billion in funding for Arab nations trying to establish true democracies. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)
International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde, left, chats with Russian deputy Finance Minister Sergey Storchak during a Deauville partnership meeting in Marseille, southern France, Saturday, Sept.10, 2011. The Deauville Partnership is a multi-billion-dollar program of aid and credit to Egypt and Tunisia that was agreed at a G8 summit in Deauville last May. Rich countries and international lenders are aiming to provide $40 billion in funding for Arab nations trying to establish true democracies. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)
International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde, left, talks with Tunisian Finance Minister Jelloul Ayed during the group photo at the Deauville partnership meeting in Marseille, southern France, Saturday, Sept.10, 2011. The Deauville Partnership is a multi-billion-dollar program of aid and credit to Egypt and Tunisia that was agreed at a G8 summit in Deauville last May. Rich countries and international lenders are aiming to provide $40 billion in funding for Arab nations trying to establish true democracies. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde, right, chats with U.S Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner during the group photo at the Deauville partnership meeting in Marseille, southern France, Saturday, Sept.10, 2011. The Deauville Partnership is a multi-billion-dollar program of aid and credit to Egypt and Tunisia that was agreed at a G8 summit in Deauville last May. Rich countries and international lenders are aiming to provide $40 billion in funding for Arab nations trying to establish true democracies. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
French Finance Minister Francois Baroin, right, welcomes eyf Al-Nasr, Libyan Transitional National Council's ambassador in France, during a Deauville partnership meeting in Marseille, southern France, Saturday, Sept.10, 2011. The Deauville Partnership is a multi-billion-dollar program of aid and credit to Egypt and Tunisia that was agreed at a G8 summit in Deauville last May. Rich countries and international lenders are aiming to provide $40 billion in funding for Arab nations trying to establish true democracies. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
French Finance Minister Francois Baroin, right, welcomes his Japanese counterpart Jun Azumi during a Deauville partnership meeting in Marseille, southern France, Saturday, Sept.10, 2011. The Deauville Partnership is a multi-billion-dollar program of aid and credit to Egypt and Tunisia that was agreed at a G8 summit in Deauville last May. Rich countries and international lenders are aiming to provide $40 billion in funding for Arab nations trying to establish true democracies. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
MARSEILLE, France (AP) ? The World Bank and several other international lenders promised more money Saturday to encourage democratic reforms in Arab countries, nearly doubling a previous pledge to $38 billion.
That brings to at least $58 billion the amount of money so far promised over the next two years to Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Jordan to support countries that have either thrown off their authoritarian regimes or are slowly opening up their systems of government.
In addition to funds promised by the lenders, the Group of Eight ? Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Russia and the U.S. ? had pledged $20 billion in May.
French Finance Minister Francois Baroin said Saturday that commitments from those countries had "increased strongly" but he did not specify by how much.
The French contribution more than doubled to $2.7 billion, for instance.
There has been criticism that the funds have been slow in coming. Baroin said everyone was working to hand over the money as quickly as possible.
Libya was also included in Saturday's discussions but is not yet eligible for money. The country's rebels have taken control of most of the country and are working to establish a government.
Associated Pressj cole aaliyah alphabet hurricane preparedness hurricane preparedness bach ocean city md
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন