WB’s Banga, India FM discuss MDBs

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Nirmala Sitharaman met World Bank Group president Ajay Banga and discussed recommendations to strengthen Multilateral Development Banks (MDB), the finance ministry said on Wednesday. Finance minister Sitharaman and Banga also discussed the outcomes of the G20 under the Indian presidency and the evolution of the World Bank and its engagement with India in various sectors, besides issues of mutual interest, the finance ministry said on social media platform X.

"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. "Mr Banga informed the Union Finance Minister that @WorldBank has set up a task force team to study recommendations made by #G20IEG, under #G20India Presidency," it added.

An International Expert Group headed by N.K. Singh, an economist and former bureaucrat, along with Lawrence Summers, an economist and former US treasury secretary, have released a two-part report on strengthening Multilateral Development Banks.

While the first part of the report was released at the third G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) at Gandhinagar in July, the second part was released at the annual general meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) at Marrakesh in October. The first part of the Singh-Summers report suggested an increase in MDBs’ annual spending by $3 trillion by 2030, including $1.8 trillion for