Washington, DC, May 18, 2004 - Today, the World Bank launched a Hungarian Forint (HUF) bond issue. The HUF 13 Billion bonds were targeted to European retail investors and responded to the high demand from investors for AAA paper denominated in Hungarian Forint .

Deutsche Bank lead managed the transaction, with Toronto Dominion as Co-Lead Manager and Dexia, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, DZ Bank AG, ING Bank NV and KBC Bank as Co-Managers.

Amount: HUF 13 billion
Settlement date: June 15, 2004
Maturity date: December 16, 2005
Coupon: 9.0%
Denomination: HUF 1 Million
Listing: Luxembourg
Clearing systems: Euroclear or Clearstream
ISIN Code: XS0193197174

The bond is traded electronically on Bloomberg via Autobahn (DAB), Deutsche Bank's electronic trading system.

The World Bank's bond products and investor presentation can be accessed through the website of the World Bank for bond investors (www.worldbank.org/debtsecurities).  For a list of selected bonds issued recently by the World Bank, see: List of Selected Recent World Bank Bonds.