IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development)

The IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) is the original and largest arm of the World Bank Group, established in 1944. It lends to middle-income and creditworthy lower-income countries at market-related interest rates, financing projects that generate substantial procurement activity for goods, works, and services across sectors including infrastructure, health, education, agriculture, and public administration.

What is IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development)?

IBRD had lending commitments of $40.9 billion across 139 operations in FY2025, making it one of the largest single sources of development-financed procurement in the world. Every IBRD-financed project that uses Bank funds for procurement must follow the World Bank's Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers, which govern method selection, notice publication, evaluation, and contract management from the General Procurement Notice through to contract award.

Procurement under IBRD projects is tracked and published through the STEP system and the World Bank's public procurement search portal, giving suppliers visibility into active notices, shortlists, and contract awards. IBRD sits alongside ida-international-development-association as the core lending vehicle of the World Bank Group, with IBRD specifically serving countries above the IDA income threshold. Suppliers from all 189 member countries are eligible to bid on IBRD-financed procurement, subject to any specific eligibility conditions stated in the solicitation.

Why IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) matters for bidders

IBRD projects generate some of the most predictable and best-documented procurement pipelines in international development. Borrower procurement plans, published on the World Bank portal and updated on an 18-month rolling basis, allow suppliers to identify upcoming opportunities well before notices are published. Because IBRD lending concentrates in middle-income countries, the projects tend to be technically complex and commercially significant, with contract values that reward the investment of a thorough bid preparation effort. Tracking IBRD project approvals, then monitoring STEP notices for the resulting procurement, is a reliable method for building a forward pipeline in target sectors and geographies.

FAQ

Which countries borrow from IBRD?

IBRD lends to middle-income and creditworthy lower-income countries. Major borrowers include India, China, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, and Turkey, though the exact eligibility classification is reviewed periodically by the Bank.

How does IBRD procurement differ from IDA procurement?

Both follow the same World Bank Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers, so the methods, notice types, and evaluation rules are identical. The difference is the borrower country: IBRD serves middle-income countries, while ida-international-development-association serves the poorest.

Where do I find IBRD procurement notices?

Notices from IBRD-financed projects are published on the World Bank's public procurement search portal at search.worldbank.org, and the underlying data is available through the free, unauthenticated REST API at search.worldbank.org/api/v2/procnotices.