Pranab Mukherjee To World Bank - "think out of the box"

Indian Finance Minister Mr.Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said that the World Bank should have to find some ways to improve its capital base so as to enhance lending to developing countries.

The World Bank’s focus needs to be on critical areas such as poverty alleviation, food price inflation, financing for climate change and meeting the energy needs of the poor, he stressed.

“The International Development Association (IDA) needs to be put on a more sustainable footing, with donors giving priority to IDA over Trust Funds and also without weakening the resources of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and IFC,” Mr. Mukherjee said in his intervention during the World Bank’s Development Committee meeting on Global Development Issues and the World Development Report 2012 on Gender.

Asking the World Bank to give priority to upliftment of the poor, wherever the poor may be, without getting diverted by peripheral goals, Mr. Mukherjee reiterated the need to address the needs of middle income countries (MICs), which were the main borrowers from the IBRD.

“They often feel disconnected from many bank activities. Efforts should be made to regenerate interest in MICs toward the bank, particularly through enhanced financing, more knowledge products and a focus on the poor in MICs,” he said.

Stating that food price inflation needs to be tackled on a priority basis, he said this would require both short-term measures focusing on immediate food supply and safety nets and long-term measures to enhance agricultural productivity and output.

“The bank will have to make substantial investment in this regard,” he said.