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BERLIN (Reuters) - The World Bank said on Friday it had raised a total of $41.6 billion in funds to help around 80 poor countries with grants and loans through June 2011, an increase of $9.5 billion over the previous funding period.

The Washington-based lender conducts a fund-raising campaign among its richer members every three years to determine funding for the International Development Association (IDA), the bank's lending arm.

Some 45 donor countries had gathered in Berlin starting on Thursday to try to secure sufficient pledges to ensure that future lending by the IDA is not undermined

The fund is the world's largest single provider of development assistance to poor countries

The IDA raised $32.1 billion in the last fund-raising round completed in February 2005.