In order to meet the financial requirements of huge pipeline of projects, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has pitched for increase in funding for India from International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), a part of the World Bank Group. FM emphasized on the need for capital expansion in the World Bank Group as well as on the need for developing countries like India to have more voting right at the multilateral lender.
While noting that India has decided to seek the aid only through IBRD and cease the funding from International Development Agency (IDA), the finance minister said that an increase in IBRD support is imperative to meet India’s current requirement of $ 5-7 billion and for a huge pipeline of projects.
Jaitley also urged the World Bank to lower its effective rate of interest on loans by removing the commitment charges levied on the undisbursed loans. Further, he suggested that the World Bank should explore innovative financing options and should relax the requirement of Sovereign Guarantee for loans to AAA rated organisations.