World Bank refuses loan to Myanmar

Published: May 20, 2008 at 1:52 PM

YANGON, Myanmar, May 20 (UPI) -- The World Bank is refusing to loan money to cyclone-ravaged Myanmar, saying the country has been in arrears with the bank since 1998, bank officials said.

Representatives of The World Bank will attend a donor conference organized by the United Nations and the Association of South-East Asian Nations, but "cannot legally provide any resources," the bank's Managing Director Juan Jose Daboub told Ihe Daily Telegraph newspaper in London.

Myanmar's ruling military junta has provided assistance to only 20 percent of the cyclone's 2.5 million survivors who are in desperate need of food, water and shelter, the report said.

Beggars line the streets along roads in the Irrawaddy Delta, but the government has distributed newspapers asking motorists not to help, as it will "make them lazy and dependent on others," the Telegraph reported Tuesday.

The military government has also blocked foreign aid, fearing it will undermine their authority, the report said.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
Distracted man drives Bugatti into lagoon (7 min)
COL FB: Rutgers 31, South Florida 0 (11 min)
Tagliabue to head a study of USOC (18 min)
NFL: San Francisco 10, Chicago 6 (22 min)
NBA: Cleveland 109, Miami 102 (40 min)
UPI Sports Calendar for Friday, Nov. 13 (45 min)
NHL: Nashville 3, St. Louis 1
fark
Drew's list of 'seasonal' stories is woefully incomplete without "annual turkey baster search"
Experts wonder if the upswing in retail theft may be connected to the unemployment rate. What the...
MPAA shuts down an entire town's wi-fi because one person illegally downloaded a movie. Take that,...
Verizon has found a way to charge you for accidental keystrokes
Coming to a hipster douche near you: 1890s fashion. 'Cause nothing says "manly" like knee socks,...
Tennessee man found asleep in a ditch with a loaded rifle and a bottle of moonshine