Summary: In February 1992, the World Bank assembled a task force to review the Bank's portfolio management. Audits had shown a growing decline in the Bank's project success rate for the past decade, particularly during the last three years. The task force reported in October 1992 that the main causes of the decline were poor project design, management, and implementation. Underlying the decline in the project success rate was the Bank's preoccupation with new lending, described by some as the loan approval culture, which often took precedence over effective project management once new loans were approved. The task force called on the Bank to change its internal values and incentives by focusing on the central objectives of achieving sustainable development impact and the critical role of portfolio management. This report (1) discusses the status of the Bank's efforts to institute reforms, (2) assesses the extent to which the United States influences the forms, and (3) describes the process used by the United States to evaluate loan proposals.
