Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman met World Bank Group President David Malpass in Washington on Friday and discussed various issues, including India’s recovery from Covid-19 pandemic, the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the world economy and India in particular, economy and the role of the WBG, single borrower limit and exploring the possibility of guarantees from other nations, India’s G20 presidency and World Bank’s leadership in India.
Sitharaman highlighted India’s roadmap for infrastructure development and sought World Bank’s continued support for financing investments for the national infrastructure pipeline and Gati Shakti programme.
She said multilateralism has become more critical as the world is undergoing a phase of exceptional uncertainty. On account of the pandemic and the recent geopolitical developments, there is a need for the World Bank to come to the rescue of countries facing debt stress. The World Bank needs to pay special attention to Sri Lanka, which is facing an unprecedented economic situation. The FM mentioned that India remains concerned about the risks to global recovery due to rising uncertainty amidst enhanced geopolitical tensions. She stated that India’s pandemic response has focused on the twin goals of saving lives and livelihoods.
Sitharaman also participated in the 105th meeting of the Development Committee Plenary. On the agenda were digitalisation and development, making debt work for development and macroeconomic stability and the World Bank Group’s response to the global impacts of the war in Ukraine. In her intervention at this session, the FM stated that India’s economic growth in the current year is robust and the highest among all large economies and reflects the country’s resilience and strong recovery.
