New Delhi: The World Bank is expected to
increase its lending to India by over three times to USD 7
billion in 2009-10 compared to the average USD 2.3 billion for
the last four financial years.
"The average commitment during the last four financial
years from the World Bank has been approximately USD 2.3
billion. However, in the current year, the commitments are
expected to reach about USD $ 7 billion," said an official
statement, issued after the multilateral agency President
Robert Zoellick met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today.
The current World Bank portfolio in India consists of 68
projects with a total commitment of USD 19.57 billion, the
statement said. India is the largest borrower of the World
Bank.
Mukherjee appreciated the World Bank for its increased
lending in the wake of the world financial crisis.
At the meeting, Zoellick sought India’s support in
widening the capital base of the World Bank so that it could
appropriately meet the needs of developmental finance.
The request came after India agreed to invest 10 billion
dollars from its reserves to supplement the IMF resources.
Mukherjee said India has been at the forefront of
providing greater capital support to all the multilateral
development institutions and had supported a 200 per cent
capital increase for the Asian Development Bank.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, December 02, 2009, 16:48