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World Bank proposes to double funding to India
Dubai, Sept 24: The World Bank proposes to double its funding to India from the present annual level of USD 1.9 billion in the next four years to hasten infrastructure, rural and social development.
Dubai, Sept 24: The World Bank proposes to double its funding to India from the present annual level of USD 1.9 billion in the next four years to hasten infrastructure, rural and social development.
"The level of assistance could double in the next four years or so if India sustains its social reforms and continues to work aggressively towards poverty reduction programmes," a top bank official said today.
Besides the social sector, funding is being considered in the areas of infrastructure and rural development, he said.
The official said the institution is highly satisfied with poverty reduction programmes and other social sector reforms in India.
India's achievement in the social and economic sectors have come into sharp focus at the ongoing annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF here. The likely increase in aid to India comes at a time when World Bank president James Wolfenson has expressed deep concern at the big fall in aid from the developed to the developing world.
In his address to IMF-World Bank meetings yesterday, Wolfenson urged world leaders to make a new commitment to aid as well as liberalising the trade for the third world countries.
The bank recently approved a credit of 54 million dollars for the 'food and drugs capacity building project', a health project in India.
One of the components of the project - food safety - deals with strengthening government's regulatory capacity for food safety besides educating consumers and upgrading related skills in private sector in this regard. According to officials, India borrows from the World Bank under the variable spread loans (VSL) for which the repayment period is 20 years and variable interest rate is pegged at 1.71 per cent as on April 15, 2003.
Besides a front end fee of one per cent, an effective commitment charge of 0.25 per cent is charged on undisbursed loan amount.
The IBRD and the IDA commitments for India during 2003 stood at 1.52 billion dollars as against 2.19 billion dollars in 2002. India is among the top ten borrowers of IBRD assistance.
During the last fiscal year, the World Bank strengthened its commitment to helping developing countries build infrastructure essential to make progress in key social priorities like education, health, water and sanitation, according to a bank release. Bureau Report
Besides the social sector, funding is being considered in the areas of infrastructure and rural development, he said.
The official said the institution is highly satisfied with poverty reduction programmes and other social sector reforms in India.
India's achievement in the social and economic sectors have come into sharp focus at the ongoing annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF here. The likely increase in aid to India comes at a time when World Bank president James Wolfenson has expressed deep concern at the big fall in aid from the developed to the developing world.
In his address to IMF-World Bank meetings yesterday, Wolfenson urged world leaders to make a new commitment to aid as well as liberalising the trade for the third world countries.
The bank recently approved a credit of 54 million dollars for the 'food and drugs capacity building project', a health project in India.
One of the components of the project - food safety - deals with strengthening government's regulatory capacity for food safety besides educating consumers and upgrading related skills in private sector in this regard. According to officials, India borrows from the World Bank under the variable spread loans (VSL) for which the repayment period is 20 years and variable interest rate is pegged at 1.71 per cent as on April 15, 2003.
Besides a front end fee of one per cent, an effective commitment charge of 0.25 per cent is charged on undisbursed loan amount.
The IBRD and the IDA commitments for India during 2003 stood at 1.52 billion dollars as against 2.19 billion dollars in 2002. India is among the top ten borrowers of IBRD assistance.
During the last fiscal year, the World Bank strengthened its commitment to helping developing countries build infrastructure essential to make progress in key social priorities like education, health, water and sanitation, according to a bank release. Bureau Report