For two decades, the World Bank has classified countries as low-, middle- or high-income based on Gross National Income (GNI) per capita. As a standardised and simple proxy for factors such as wealth, the capacity of governments to provide services to their citizens, and national levels of development, GNI has been an influential yardstick to determine the eligibility of lower income countries for concessional external financing from multilateral and bilateral partners.
Pascal LAMY 