Washington: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday met World Bank President Ajay Banga and discussed reforms in the Multilateral Development Banks among other things.
The two discussed issues related to private capital participation in Global Public Goods, Energy security, and Multilateral Development Banks (MDBS) reforms on the sidelines of the World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings here.
The Finance Minister said that she is keenly looking forward to the World Bank taking forward the IEG’s recommendations on MDBs reforms from India’s G20 Presidency and also requested regular monitoring of the implementation of the recommendations going forward, the finance ministry said in a post on X.
Independent Expert Group (IEG), appointed under India G20 Presidency, has recommended a triple agenda to harness the potential of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs).
The report suggested adopting a triple mandate of eliminating extreme poverty, boosting shared prosperity, and contributing to global public goods, tripling sustainable lending levels by 2030 and creating a third funding mechanism, which would permit flexible and innovative arrangements for purposefully engaging with investors willing to support elements of the MDB agenda.
Banga informed the Finance Minister that the World Bank has set up a task force team to study recommendations by the IEG under G20 India Presidency.
He said the bank has identified eight unique global challenges to focus on in the next few years as they affect many countries and require attention.
Sitharaman expressed India’s support for it.
“Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman stressed that the Country Climate and Development Report #CCDR exercise of the @WorldBank should take into account the country’s priorities and circumstances,” it said.
She highlighted the need for the World Bank to explore the possibility of coordinated approach in implementation of the projects with special emphasis on Finance Plus or Budget Plus elements in projects funded by the MDB.
