(Bloomberg) -- Eleven rich countries including Japan, the UK and US proposed providing the World Bank with $11 billion in additional funds, which the bank says it could leverage up to $70 billion for lending. 

The nations pledged the funds for use in the World Bank’s portfolio guarantee platform, which offers support when borrowers can’t repay, a hybrid capital mechanism and its Livable Planet Fund. 

Raising fresh money for the World Bank has been a difficult task in the past several years. A Biden administration plan announced last year to send $3.3 billion to the bank from the US has stalled in Congress. 

Read More: Biden’s Push for World Bank Funds to Compete With China Stalls

World Bank members approved a $13 billion paid-in capital increase in 2018. The bank’s two major lending arms committed a combined $72.8 billion last year, with total cumulative lending since 1945 at nearly $1.4 trillion.

Details of the commitments announced Friday:

  • Japan: $1 billion for the portfolio guarantee platform and a contribution to the Livable Planet Fund, to tackle global challenges like pandemic prevention and preparedness
  • US: Requested $750 million for portfolio guarantee platform
  • UK: £100 million ($124 million) for hybrid capital
  • Netherlands: Contribution to unlock about 500 million euros ($533 million)
  • Belgium providing a $70 million portfolio guarantee to the World Bank’s Global Solutions Accelerator Platform
  • Contributions from Germany, France, Norway, Latvia, Italy, Denmark

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