World Bank Chief Banga Meets Indian Finance Minister: MDB Engagement

New Delhi, Dec 20 (PTI) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday met World Bank Group President Ajay Banga and discussed engagement of multilateral banks in various sectors in India.

Sitharaman also discussed outcomes of G20 India Presidency and strengthening of the World Bank besides issues of mutual interest.

"The Union Finance Minister stated that @WorldBank should take the lead in advancing recommendations contained in the Volume-I #TripleAgenda and the recommendations that #MDBs must be bigger, better and bolder as contained in the Volume-II, of the reports of the G20 Independent Experts Group #IEG, prepared under the #G20India Presidency, and added that other #MDBs look up to @WorldBank for such #reform initiatives," the finance ministry said in 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.