According to an internal document seen by Reuters, 27 countries have taken steps since the start of the war in Iran to put in place emergency mechanisms to quickly access funding from existing World Bank programs.
The World Bank document does not mention the names of the countries or the total amount of funds potentially requested. The World Bank declined to comment.
The document indicates that three countries have approved new instruments since the start of the conflict in the Middle East on February 28, while the others are still finalizing the process.
The war and the resulting disruptions to global energy markets have affected global supply chains and prevented vital fertilizer deliveries from reaching developing countries.
Officials in Kenya and Iraq have confirmed they are seeking rapid financial support from the World Bank to deal with the fallout from the war, such as soaring fuel prices hitting the African country and the massive drop in oil revenues for Iraq.
These 27 countries are among the 101 countries with access to some form of pre-established financing instrument that they can mobilize in the event of a crisis, 54 of which have joined the Rapid Response Option, which allows countries to use up to 10% of their undisbursed financing.
World Bank President Ajay Banga said last month that the bank's crisis toolkit would allow countries to tap into pre-arranged conditional financing, balances from existing projects and rapid disbursement instruments to access an estimated $20-25 billion.
He added that the bank could also reallocate part of its portfolio to bring the total to $60 billion over six months, with the possibility of longer-term changes to bring the total to around $100 billion.
At the time, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, stated that she expected a dozen countries to request between $20 billion and $50 billion in short-term aid from the global financial institution. However, few requests have been registered, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
"Countries are clearly in wait-and-see mode," said one of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Kevin Gallagher, director of the Global Development Policy Center at Boston University, explained that countries were more inclined to seek funds from the World Bank than to negotiate with the IMF, because IMF programs generally require austerity measures that could worsen social unrest already seen in countries like Kenya.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
