Interview with Chris Neal
External affairs manager for Latin America at the World Bank
Interview by CBC Radio's Bob Carty | Oct. 9, 2002
EXPLAIN THE BANK'S POSITION ON WATER PRIVATIZATION.
The Bank is not ideological about it one way or another. There is range of different models - cooperatives, support for public utilities and support for private utilities. The World Bank is not ideologically pre-disposed in one direction or another. The World Bank is looking for solutions to expand water coverage to the poor. The purpose of the World Bank is to fight poverty and in the case of developing countries, of municipalities where there is limited access to money to expand coverage, those require major investments. The money has to come from somewhere. In many cases the private sector is the only place where that money can be found.
The World Bank is not opposed to privatization. The WB supports privatization in many cases where we feel it is the best solution to expand coverage to the poor. We're heterodox. We are supporting water projects that are public sector driven, private sector driven, and a mix of the two. It is not a cookie-cutter approach.
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