OTTAWA, Nov 17: Globalization cannot be turned back but needs to be better managed so its benefits are felt around the world, World Bank President James Wolfensohn said on Friday.

Wolfensohn, speaking in an interview with Reuters and Reuters Television, also said the bank is prepared to resume lending to Argentina after the troubled country reaches a deal with its creditors.

I don’t think anyone can turn back globalization, Wolfensohn said. But Sept. 11 will cause a reappraisal on everybody’s part of what globalization means.

Wolfensohn’s comments came as anti-capitalism protesters took to the streets of Ottawa to complain about policies of the bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Finance ministers and central bankers representing member countries of the two lenders are meeting in Ottawa this weekend as are finance officials from a group of 20 rich and poor countries.

A group of about 350 protesters smashed windows of a McDonald’s restaurant on Friday, a favorite target of those opposed to globalization.

The question is how are you going to manage globalization so that its benefits can go to more people, he said.

Since Sept. 11, Wolfensohn has underlined the importance of extending help to poor countries because of the link between poverty and the dissatisfaction that can breed terrorists.

The World Bank chief repeated his call for more funding for poor countries and also more generous agreements on trade by the richest countries. He has called for a doubling of official aid flows to around $100 billion a year to achieve the goal of halving poverty.

Wolfensohn gave verbal support to Argentina’s latest bid to cope with its debt burden through a complicated debt swap deal, saying he was “hopeful” the country is on top of the situation. Argentina is desperately trying to cut the servicing cost on some of its $132 billion debt with the exchange.

If all that happens, if it works out with the IMF we are quite ready to come in and continue our programme, Wolfensohn said.

He noted that it is important that the Argentine government straighten out relations with the provinces and get the budget under control.

Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo, also in Ottawa for the meetings, said on Friday that Argentina was not defaulting on its debts and that the United States was supportive of the plan to save his nation from bankruptcy.

The head of the Washington-lender said the Turkish economy has “a real chance” of turning the corner.

Believing the country deserved support of the international financial community because of its size and importance, Wolfensohn said he expects the IMF to come up with a decent programme.

On Thursday night, the IMF head, Horst Koehler, said he would recommend a new loan for Turkey to bridge a $10 billion financing gap and said the cash-strapped country’s performance under its existing $19 billion programme had been “very strong”.—Reuters