The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and financial assistance to countries for economic development. It was established along with the IMF at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference to rebuild European economies after World War II. The World Bank offers two main types of loans - investment loans to support projects and development policy loans for quick financing. Its goals are to reduce poverty and promote shared prosperity globally by 2030. While it aims to boost growth in developing nations, some criticize that it can increase debt burdens and ignore environmental/social impacts of projects it funds.