World Bank to Trim Jobs in Reorganization; Primary Goal Is Efficiency, Conable Says
World Bank President Barber B. Conable Jr. said yesterday that a reorganization of the institution, now under way, will result in "some reduction" in the bank's 6,500-member staff, but denied reports of a specific cutback goal.</br></br>Other bank sources said rumored reductions of 600 to 1,200 jobs were "way out of line," and that most of the staff reduction would be accomplished through attrition and early retirements.</br></br>Conable's remarks were made during a day-long conference on debt and development issues, sponsored by the Bretton Woods Committee. The committee is a privately sponsored lobbying group set up two years ago to counter attacks on the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the sister lending institutions set up in 1944 at Bretton Woods, N.H.</br></br>Conable told the meeting that the basic goal of the proposed reorganization of the bank was not staff reduction, "but to recertify the institution, its efficiency and its relevance in today's terms." He said the bank had boosted its loans to 15 major debtor countries in 1986 to $5 billion, a 285 percent increase over $1.7 billion in 1982, and that the bank stands ready to play an even larger role in the future.</br></br>But Morgan Guaranty Bank economist Rimmer de Vries pointed out in an earlier session that increased World Bank lending is being offset by reduced IMF loan activity. According to de Vries, IMF and World Bank loans to Latin American borrowers totaled $15 billion from 1983 through 1985, but will drop to $10 billion in the 1986-1988 period.