(PTI): World Bank president Robert Zoellick has warned that the lender may have to allocate its loans only to poor countries due to a rising aid demand.

Zoellick says the rise in demand, which is triggered by the global economic meltdown, may force the bank to slash lending by mid-2010.

“As we start to get towards the middle of next year, we are going to start to face some serious constraints, and we would have to ration and obviously focus on the lowest-income countries,” Zoellick said.

He also appealed for more funds as the bank forecasted another record year of lending of at least USD 40 billion to middle-income and creditworthy poor countries in 2009.

The figure stood at USD 33 billion in 2008. The bank also estimates that by the end of 2010 some 90 million people risk being forced into extreme poverty.

Zoellick warned that the world economy is still fragile.

“The world economy is still in a precarious state … There are many risks out there. These include growing unemployment lines, rising protectionism, and still-large output gaps,” Zoellick told a news conference in Istanbul.