Washington, Jan 25 (IANS): The World Bank said Tuesday it has approved an innovative new financing instrument for its client countries that links the disbursement of funds directly to the delivery of defined results.

The new instrument, which is called the Program-for-Results(PforR), would support government programs in a diverse range of countries and sectors, the World Bank said in a statement.

"Enhancing development effectiveness by helping developing countries achieve results is central to the mission of World Bank," said Robert B. Zoellick, president of the World Bank Group.

"Program-for-Results financing demands greater accountability from partner countries and in turn will help these countries continue to deliver sustainable results long after the Bank's involvement has ended. The time is right for this innovative development approach," he added.

The new instrument will also help improve the transparency and accountability for programs in developing country, and strengthen systems to fight fraud and corruption, Xinhua quoted the statement as saying.