India urges WB to be more efficient in capital management

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New Delhi : Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of  Finance, Government of India, Subhash Chandra Garg, while addressing the 97^th Meeting of the Development Committee Plenary in Washington DC on April 21, 2018, said that countries in India’s constituency in the World Bank (WB) – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Sri Lanka – now are the highest growing block in South Asia and the World at large. Garg said that it will cross 3 trillion GDP this year. It attracts close to 100 billion dollars of FDI and Portfolio Investment and will grow around 7.5% this year. However, it has widespread poverty and faces enormous developmental challenges.

The items on the agenda included Sustaining Financing for Sustainable Development, A Report to Governors on Shareholding at the Spring Meetings 2018, Progress Report on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management in the World Bank Group Operations, Forward Look Implementation Update, and Update to Governors on Gender Diversity in the Executive Board of the World Bank Group.

Garg said that while the World Bank Group – IBRD, IFC, IDA, MIGA – has supported the growth and development of this constituency, it will need to continue in the foreseeable future. This is the reason capital increase has been a matter of critical interest for India. He expressed happiness that there is now an agreement on the capital increase package and that it is reasonably large – a 13 billion capital increase in IBRD and IFC together, which from the historical context, is a truly unprecedented expansion of capital.

Garg expressed India’s support for the shareholding review including development of dynamic formula and the capital package.  He congratulated the President and top management of WB Group for making it a reality. He expressed hope that increased lending for middle income countries will start flowing soon and single borrower limits revised upwards quickly. He also highlighted that the current capital increase package was due in 2015 and that this has been delivered only in 2018.

The next capital review, as agreed, is due in 2020.  He expressed hope and urged the management to start preparation for the same well in time to deliver it on time. He suggested that next year (2019) will be the right time to start working on it. At the end,  Garg urged the Bank to become more efficient in its capital management, according to a PIB release.