Development banks pledge aid, redirect funds to Haiti

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Global development banks on Wednesday appealed for an urgent international response to help rebuild Haiti and said they would redirect funding from existing projects to recovery and reconstruction efforts.

The World Bank pledged an extra $100 million in aid for Haiti and said it was considering setting up a special trust fund to mobilize and coordinate international aid for the country.

World Bank Country Director for the Caribbean, Yvonne Tsikata, said the Bank would soon send a team to Haiti with other U.N. agencies to help the government assess the extent of damage caused by the powerful earthquake.

Tsikata said some $250,000 had been allocated for that assessment. In addition, the Bank's private sector lender, the International Finance Corporation, is contacting clients in Haiti to help businesses rebuild.

The World Bank said its offices in a suburb of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince were destroyed.

Tsikata said the Bank would like to begin the needs assessment as quickly as possible, even if the government was not fully functioning.

"At this point we are very much in a search and recovery mode and we will have to let that run its course, and then in discussions with the government find out when is the most appropriate time," she told a conference call. "We'd like to go as quickly as possible."

The $100 million is in addition to the $363 million the World Bank has provided Haiti since 2005. Tsikata said the bank could also adapt existing development projects in Haiti to focus on recovery efforts.

Tsikata said the funds could be made available as budget support for the government, a quick way to mobilize money in times of need.

"This is a shocking event and it is crucial that the international community supports the Haitian people at this critical time," World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick added.

The Inter-American Development Bank, which focuses on Latin America and the Caribbean, said it would redirect some $90 million in still undisbursed funds to Haiti and expects to approve up to $128 million in new grants for the country this year.

Hours after the powerful 7.0 quake shook Haiti on Tuesday, the IADB announced $200,000 for Haiti.

IADB President Luis Moreno said he would attend a U.N. donor conference on Haiti in New York on Thursday and meet with senior Latin American government officials in Washington later this week.

The IADB said it would have to find an alternate base because its offices suffered heavy damage.

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Andrew Hay)