Delegates from 184 nations are attending the two-day annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
The closed door meetings in Washington Saturday, are being held under extremely tight security, following an announcement in August that the IMF and World bank were potential terrorist targets.
In a speech outlining the agenda, World Bank President Jim Wolfensohn says this year's meeting will include discussions on terrorism, poverty, debt relief and developmental aid.
He said one of the major topics of the conference is funding for the International Development Association, IDA, the Bank's lending arm for the poorest countries.
The IDA, which provides interest-free loans and grants to boost economic development and improve living conditions, disbursed a record $9 billion last year, half of which went to Africa.