The money instantly doubled the official financing available for rebuilding from the devastation.

"We are putting this on the table now," the World Bank's spokeswoman for South Asia, Dale Lautenbach, told AFP. "It is an amount that will be available for emergency reconstruction."

The money was scraped together by diverting funds from existing programs and by using "idle resources" that had yet to be committed to any project, she said.

The funds would be available for the "immediate aftermath" covering the next six months. Longer-term reconstruction needs would be assessed in the weeks ahead, the W B spokeswoman said.

The news was initially revealed by WB President James Wolfensohn in a conversation with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, according to a UN spokesman.

Wolfensohn took part in conference calls with Annan, heads of UN agencies, ambassadors of affected countries, and the "core donor support group" of the United States, India, Australia and Japan, the Bank said.

The UN chief later called on nations to make a long-term commitment to rebuilding from the tsunami wreckage.