House panel passes bill to fund World Bank

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday passed a bill authorizing funding for the World Bank and African Development Bank, congressional officials said.

The funding includes $3.7 billion over three years for the World Bank's International Development Association, or IDA, its fund that lends to 82 of the world's poorest countries, and an additional $468 million for the African Development Bank.

Rep. Maxine Waters, a Democrat from California, said the legislation included three amendments, including one that calls on the lenders to focus more on food security and agricultural projects that would help countries better deal with higher global food prices.

In other amendments, the bill calls on the U.S. Treasury to urge the institutions to suspend debt service payments by Haiti or to provide debt cancellation to the impoverished Caribbean nation.

It also urges the institutions to authorize up to $5 million to help Liberia buy back its commercial debt, which would free up spending for anti-poverty programs in a country emerging from civil war.

To become law, the bill must be passed by the House and then the Senate and signed by U.S. President George W. Bush.

"These measures will enable the governments of developing countries to dedicate their limited resources to meeting the fundamental needs of their people," Waters said in a statement.

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Gary Hill)