Multilateral development banks should intensify pvt capital mobilisation for inclusive growth: FM
New Delhi: Multilateral development banks like AIIB need to intensify private sector capital mobilisation for inclusive and green development, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.
Participating in the sixth Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the minister also urged the multilateral bank to explore investment opportunities for development of social infrastructure.
The coronavirus pandemic and the climate crisis, she said, have reinforced the importance of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and the urgency for supplementing the efforts of nations with multilateral development finance.
Assuring India's cooperation and support to the AIIB for its future endeavours, she urged the Beijing-based lender to set up a Resident Board and Regional Offices to ensure accountability, transparency and quality of operations and investments.
In her intervention during the governor's roundtable discussion on the theme of 'COVID-19 Crisis and Post-COVID Support', Sitharaman said the social protection and economic stimulus packages brought out by the Indian government along with timely structural reforms in various sectors have been pivotal in India's economic recovery process.
The stimulus packages include the credit guarantee scheme for micro finance institutions, boosters for project exports through National Export Insurance Account, additional subsidies for fertilisers and free food grains for 800 million people under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.
Several welfare schemes with a strong public health focus also helped to effectively and efficiently boost the economy and protect lives and livelihoods, especially of the poor and vulnerable, the minister said.
She appreciated AIIB's prompt actions in providing financial support to member countries, including India, in their efforts to contain and combat COVID, the finance ministry said in a statement.
Sitharaman mentioned about the government's successful drive to rapidly vaccinate its citizens, administering over 1 billion vaccines, a milestone achieved with the help of the strong scientific and technological ecosystem.
