The World Bank has postponed a $90m loan to Uganda over its tough new ant-gay law that has drawn criticism from around the World.

World Bank officials said they wanted to guarantee the projects the loan was destined to support were not going to be adversely affected by the new law.

The loan was intended to boast Uganda’s health services.

A spokesperson for World Bank said: “We have postponed the project for further review to ensure that the development objectives would not be adversely affected by the enactment of this new law”.

The World Bank’s action is the largest financial penalty incurred on the Ugandan authorities since the law went into force on Monday.