NEW DELHI, July 24 — The World Bank Group is ready to provide India financial support worth between US$15 and US$18 billion over the next three years to help boost the country’s economy and reduce poverty level.
World Bank Group president Jim Yong Kim made this renewed commitment during his first meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. “From my discussions with Prime Minister Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, it is clear that they are committed to increasing India’s economic growth,” Kim said.
“I assured them that the World Bank Group will bring to bear all possible knowledge and financing to help them in this task,” he said. Kim is on a three-day visit to India to learn more about the new government’s development priorities.
Kim’s discussions with Modi and other officials focused on the government’s plans to re-ignite growth by investing in infrastructure to create jobs; providing education and skills training to eight million youths; and equipping 10 million people who leave rural areas for towns and cities each year for jobs.
The World Bank Group president apprised the Indian government of recent collaborative efforts between the government and the World Bank Group to ensure that India continues to receive high levels of financial assistance from its various units.
Recognising that India still needs to lift around 270 million people out of poverty, International Development Association (IDA) donors have agreed to provide US$3.4 billion over the next three years as transitional support.
The International Bank for Reconstruction & Development (IBRD) has also recently increased the single borrower limit for India to US$20 billion from US$17.5 billion. This, along with the Indian government’s agreement to purchase Special Private Placement Bonds (SPPBs) of up to US$4.3 billion, will create additional
opportunities for continued assistance to India as it strives to revive growth.
The World Bank Group’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), has mobilised its US$1 billion offshore rupee bond programme aimed at strengthening India’s capital markets and attracting foreign investments.
The World Bank Group’s Country Partnership Strategy (2013-17) focuses on three areas key to India’s goal of faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth: economic integration, rural-urban transformation and inclusion. Increasingly, the bank’s focus is on engagement in India’s low-income
states, where income per capita is low, poverty is widespread and development indicators are comparable to those in the least developed countries in the world. India is the largest client for the World Bank Group, which committed a total of US$6.4 billion to the country during its last fiscal year (July 2013 to June 2014).
-BERNAMA
