A dispute between rich countries over aid policy and intentions expressed by some to reduce their contributions to the International Development Association (IDA), the soft-loan arm of the World Bank (WB), has clouded the prospect of more development funds for the poor nations over a period of next three years. The dispute has reached, what the western media termed, deadlock with the US and European countries at loggerheads over aid policy and some governments' willingness to reduce their proportion of the total amount of contributions.