"The decision to reduce Norwegian financial support to the World Bank is historic", says Atle Sommerfeldt, general secretary of Norwegian Church Aid.

"This can only be read as a critique of the conditions the World Bank imposes on poor countries, and as such, it will be noted worldwide."

The Norwegian decision to withhold support has increased pressure on British minister for Development Douglas Alexander, to whom British organizations are currently appealing to withhold the UKs support to the Bank.

The Norwegian government announced today that it will be withholding NOK 23 million (roughly US$ 4.2 million) of a planned NOK 80 million in increased financial support to the Bank. This announcement was made at the replenishment meeting of the International Development Association (IDA), which is being currently held in Berlin.

Norwegian Church Aid launched a campaign in early autumn 2007, asking the Norwegian government to withhold its support to the World Bank for as long as the Bank continues to pressure poor countries into privatizing basic public services against their own wishes. The World Bank claims that it no longer attaches such conditions to its loans, a report released by the European Network on Debt and Development (EURODAD) in November 2007 revealed that seven out of every ten World Bank loans are granted with financial strings attached.

"Despite the fact that the sum withheld is a relatively small one, this is a significant decision to make, as very few countries have ever done anything similar," says Atle Sommerfeldt, general secretary of Norwegian Church Aid.

For more information, contact:

• Atle Sommerfeldt, general secretary, Norwegian Church Aid: (+47) 917 55 112

• Jostein Hole Kobbeltvedt, advisor, global economics: (+47) 932 42 451
• Sindre S Tollefsen, press officer: (+47) 926 30 315