WASHINGTON (AP) – The World Bank has a large to-do list for promoting growth and reducing poverty in developing countries even after the global economy’s decade-long strong showing, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Sunday.

The U.S. recognizes the bank has limited resources and increasing demands, he said. It supports efforts by the bank’s new president, Robert Zoellick, to develop a strategy to make the best use of the institution’s resources. Zoellick was trade representative and the No. 2 official at the State Department in the Bush administration.

Paulson told the bank’s policy-setting committee he welcomed the bank’s decision to contribute $3.5 billion toward interest-free loans to poor countries. He said nothing about the U.S. contribution.

Zoellick, in the job since July 1, has called on the U.S. and other developed countries to “translate their words from summit declarations into serious numbers” and contribute to the bank’s loan arm. He hopes to raise $33 billion by early 2008.

He said South Africa had set a good standard by pledging a 30 percent boost in its contribution.

Zoellick faces a stiff challenge because in recent years wealthier countries have preferred to channel their aid to poor countries directly through their development agencies or through foundations that specialize on an issue such as malaria.

South Africa’s finance minister, Trevor Manuel, was pleased by Zoellick’s emphasis on helping to overcome poverty and promote sustainable growth in poor countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

He said the goals Zoellick has outlined suggest “a new pragmatism at the bank that could be of real benefit to countries in our constituency.”

Germany’s minister for economic cooperation and development, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, said it was encouraging that most countries in that region are experiencing their highest growth rates since independence, with further increases predicted.

“Here, it is crucial that the poor can have a share in this process, too,” Wieczorek-Zeul said.

The 185-nation World Bank lends $24 billion a year for projects in the developing world such as building roads, schools and health clinic. But its role as a lender has fallen off because middle-income countries are gaining greater access to financing from other sources.

Zoellick took over from Paul Wolfowitz, a deputy defense secretary in the Bush administration who resigned from the bank in May in an ethics scandal.

Zoellick has sought to “calm the waters” after the turmoil of Wolfowitz’s tenure. He is emphasizing fighting poverty, especially in Africa; aiding countries that are emerge from war; and promoting regional cooperation to combat disease and climate change.

In a park across the street from the bank, protesters erected 140 life-size cutouts of people. Demonstrators want the bank and the International Monetary Fund to do more to tackle poverty and inequality in the developing world.

AP-ES-10-21-07 1315EDT