India, April 20 -- WASHINGTON - New financial instruments designed to boost lending capacity and enable the World Bank Group to take on more risk for shared global challenges have received a significant endorsement. A set of 11 countries announced commitments today for the Portfolio Guarantee Platform, hybrid capital mechanism, and new Livable Planet Fund totaling $11 billion.

The World Bank Group's unique leveraging capability enables the resources pledged to hybrid capital and the Portfolio Guarantee Platform to be multiplied six to eight times over 10 years. Under certain conditions, the leverage amount could reach tenfold.

The resources pledged today could provide up to $70 billion in urgently needed funds, which can be deployed to ...