Jason Hickel, Salmaan Keshavjee, Maxine Burkett and Eugene T. Richardson, “Structural adjustment: damages, reparations and pathways to non-recurrence”, BMJ Global Health, March 2026.

The 1970s were a good decade for the global South. Between 1960 and 1980, real per capita income grew across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Countries that had recently thrown off colonial rule were investing in public healthcare and education, protecting their industries, and organising production around national development.

Then, beginning in the 1980s, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank began structural adjustment programmes across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Decades later, many countries in the impact regions continue to struggle with weak public health systems, stagnant incomes and high levels of poverty.

In a recent paper published in BMJ Global Health, economists and public health researchers Jason Hickel, Salmaan Keshavjee, Maxine Burkett, and Eugene T. Richardson argue that the institutions that implemented these programmes now owe reparations.

The repayment burden

Structural adjustment programmes emerged during the debt crises of the late 1970s and 1980s. Many developing countries had borrowed heavily in foreign currencies to finance imports and industrial development. When the United States Federal Reserve raised interest rates in the late 1970s, debt repayments became far more expensive for poorer countries, causing decades-long progress to unravel.

Countries that had borrowed in U.S. dollars suddenly faced ballooning repayments in a currency they had no control over. To prevent governments in the global South from defaulting on loans owed to American banks, the U.S. worked through the IMF and World Bank to roll over those debts, attaching a set of sweeping economic reforms as conditions that would come to be known as structural adjustment programmes, or SAPs.

SAPs typically demanded three things. First, austerity: slash public spending on healthcare, education, food subsidies, and social security, so that the money saved could flow back to creditors. Second, privatisation; by transfering public services and state-owned industries to private capital. And, third, by deregulating industrial policy, tariffs, capital controls, and labour protections.

Countries had limited room to refuse. Defaulting on loans was risky, and the institutions pushing these conditions controlled international finance.

These SAPs should also be viewed in a longer historical context. After independence, many governments in the global South had used industrial policy and public investment to break away from colonial economic arrangements that kept labour and resources cheap for Western firms. The SAPs effectively reversed these gains, re-cheapening southern labour and re-opening vulnerable markets to the global North.

Social and economic setback

Economic growth in the global South before SAPs averaged around 3.2% annually. But growth slowed sharply, falling to a mere 0.7% during the era of structural adjustment in the 1980s and 1990s. The South collectively lost an average of $480 billion per year in potential national income during this period.

In Latin America, real income per adult fell nearly 15% after 1980 and did not recover to previous levels until 2006. In Sub-Saharan Africa, incomes fell nearly 20% before eventually recovering decades later. In Jamaica, trade and exchange-rate liberalisation in the early 1990s caused food prices to rise sharply after currency depreciation. In China, extreme poverty rose during a phase of market-oriented reforms linked to World Bank adjustment policies.

The effects on health were also severe. A 2017 review found that SAPs imposed by the IMF, World Bank, and African Development Bank had a strong negative impact on child and maternal health. Studies on Sub-Saharan Africa linked adjustment to an additional 85.62 child deaths per 1,000 children and an additional 360 maternal deaths per 1,00,000 live births. In Kenya, the authors calculate, 3,05,000 excess infant deaths occurred between 1986 and 2010 relative to the pre-adjustment trend.

The mechanisms are not hard to trace. SAPs cut government spending on health, led to the closure of facilities, and limited the hiring of doctors and nurses. Currency devaluation made imported drugs and medical supplies more expensive. Privatisation and user fees reduced access to essential services, and wage losses made families more vulnerable to disease in the first place.

Structural adjustment also enabled large financial outflows from the global South. The removal of capital controls allowed foreign companies to repatriate profits at up to $250 billion a year. Trade deregulation enabled further outflows exceeding $1 trillion per year, mostly to evade taxes. These were surpluses generated within developing countries that were no longer available for reinvestment in public services or domestic development.

Responsibility for repair

The IMF and World Bank, as the primary architects of these programmes, should bear responsibility for repair. One approach the authors outline would be to quantify wage losses, cuts to public services, and capital outflows attributable to SAPs, adjusted for inflation and due interest. Another mechanism would be to calculate losses to national income against a counterfactual in which the adjustments were never imposed. A third would focus specifically on welfare impacts, such as poverty and mortality, to provide compensation that restores people to the social indicators they would have reached had SAPs never existed.

But reparations face procedural obstacles, put in place by design. The IMF and World Bank enjoy sovereign immunity, shielding them from lawsuits through normal channels. Their governance structure compounds the problem. The Global North, with a mere 15% of the world’s population, controls nearly 60% of the voting power in both institutions. The U.S. alone holds a veto.

Beyond reparations, the paper calls for a guarantee of non-recurrence by abolishing structural adjustment conditions on all future lending, democratising both institutions so that aid recipients have a meaningful say in policy, and ending their sovereign immunity status.

If such transformative changes cannot happen from within, these institutions should be replaced entirely. Alternatives are already emerging, including the BRICS New Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, established by and for the global South. Neither attaches structural adjustment conditions to finance.

Published – May 13, 2026 08:00 am IST

International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

United Nations:

The World Bank projects India’s economy to grow by 6.7 per cent in the next fiscal year starting in April, slightly higher than in the current fiscal year, and continuing to top the growth tally. The Word Bank’s Global Economic Prospects released on Thursday estimated the current fiscal year’s growth rate at 6.5 per cent, down from the 8.2 per cent in the previous period.

But it said that “the services sector is expected to enjoy sustained expansion, and manufacturing activity will strengthen, supported by government initiatives to improve the business environment”, buoying the growth projections of 6.7 per cent for the next two fiscal years.

With global gross domestic product growth rate stuck at 2.7 per cent since 2023 and into the projections till 2026 according to the Bank, India is the world’s fastest growing large economy.

China follows it with a projected growth of 4.5 per cent this calendar year, and slowing down to 4 per cent next year.

The world’s largest economy, the US, was estimated to have grown by 2.8 last year with the projected growth slowing down to 2.3 per cent this year and 2 per cent next year.

The report warned about the risks to the world economy from trade tensions and tariff hikes without naming the US President-elect Donald Trump, who has threatened to upend world trade.

“Adverse trade policy shifts in major economies” could pose a risk for India, the report said.

The World Bank projections for India’s GDP growth hew closely to the United Nations projections released last week — 6.6 per cent for this calendar year and 6.8 per cent for next year.

The World Bank attributed the drop in India’s growth rate from 8.2 per cent in 2023-24 to 6.5 per cent in the current fiscal year to “a slowdown in investment and weak manufacturing growth”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

“The $188.28 million Maharashtra Strengthening Institutional Capabilities in districts for enabling growth operation will support district planning and growth strategies,” the bank said in a statement.

“The World Bank has approved a $188.28-million loan to stimulate economic growth in Maharashtra, especially in the lagging districts,” a media release said.

“The $188.28 million Maharashtra Strengthening Institutional Capabilities in districts for enabling growth operation will support district planning and growth strategies,” the bank said in a statement.

World Bank study recommends skill-based training to enhance jobs in multiple sectors

“Investments under the operation will equip districts with the necessary data, funds and expertise to maximise the value of public money employed for driving growth and job creation. It will also enhance private sector participation by improving e-government services for businesses in districts, especially in the tourism sector,” it said.

“By providing well-articulated investments in institutional capability and coordination at the district level, the programme will enhance evidence-based planning and policymaking, efficient public sector interface with the private sector and improved service delivery to the public – all of which are the fulcrum of broad-based growth, especially in lagging districts,” Auguste Tano Kouamé, the World Bank’s Country Director for India, said.

Editorial | Trading up: On the World Bank’s India Development Update

“The operation will unlock the value of public data by building a data governance architecture including the Maha Databank for better coordination, integration, analysis and dissemination of insights into State development. This data can be used to address key development gaps including gender disparities.”

“The operation sets up an incentive framework that will trigger annual fiscal rewards to districts that achieve performance targets. The operation will also strengthen the online service delivery portals MAITRI 2.0 (for services to private sector) and the RTS portal (used for all government services) for improving access of the private sector to timely government services,” said Neha Gupta and Thomas Danielewitz, the Task Team Leaders for the project.

“The $188.28-million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a final maturity of 15 years, including a grace period of 5 years,” a release said.

Washington:

The World Bank has approved a USD 188.28-million loan to stimulate economic growth in Maharashtra, especially in the lagging districts, a media release said.

The USD188.28 million Maharashtra Strengthening Institutional Capabilities in districts for enabling growth operation will support district planning and growth strategies, the bank said in a statement.

Investments under the operation will equip districts with the necessary data, funds, and expertise to maximize the value of public money employed for driving growth and job creation.

It will also enhance private sector participation by improving e-government services for businesses in districts, especially in the tourism sector, it said.

“By providing well-articulated investments in institutional capability and coordination at the district level, the program will enhance evidence-based planning and policymaking, efficient public sector interface with the private sector, and improved service delivery to the public – all of which are the fulcrum of broad-based growth, especially in lagging districts,” said Auguste Tano Kouamé, the World Bank’s Country Director for India.

The operation will unlock the value of public data by building a data governance architecture including the Maha Databank for better coordination, integration, analysis, and dissemination of insights into state development. This data can be used to address key development gaps including gender disparities.

“The operation sets up an incentive framework that will trigger annual fiscal rewards to districts that achieve performance targets. The operation will also strengthen the online service delivery portals MAITRI 2.0 (for services to private sector) and the RTS portal (used for all government services) for improving access of the private sector to timely government services,” said Neha Gupta and Thomas Danielewitz, the Task Team Leaders for the project.

The USD 188.28-million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a final maturity of 15 years, including a grace period of 5 years, the media release said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The World Bank will provide the same amount of financial assistance to Haryana in the next five years as it did in the past 50, a senior official of the global institution said on Friday.

During a meeting with the World Bank’s Country Director Auguste Tano Kouame here, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and government representatives’ discussions figured on various areas, including education, air quality management, and transport.

The World Bank team, which held a separate meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, included Nataliya Kulichenko, Programme leader, Sustainable Development India, and Anne Jeannette Glauber, Practice Manager, Environment.

Speaking to PTI on the sidelines of the meetings, Kouame, while referring to the meeting with Saini and other state government representatives, said, “In Haryana, we have a long history of engagement. We have been providing financing to Haryana since 1971. We have supported sectors such as electricity, energy, water…

“So far, we have provided one billion (dollar) financing to Haryana in the past 50 years.” Sharing details about scaling up the financing, Kouame said, “In the next five years, we will provide as much financing as we have provided in the past 50 years… I am very encouraged and quite bullish about what we can do in Haryana and help Haryana play a big role in India becoming ‘Viksit’ (developed) by 2047.” “In addition to the one billion financing we have provided directly in the form of loans to Haryana, the state has also benefited from pan-India projects that the World Bank has financed,” he said.

“The state will soon be home to a Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Centre with the assistance of the World Bank,” the Haryana government said in a statement.

“This initiative of Global AI Center is set to position Haryana as a hub for artificial intelligence research and innovation. This collaboration is expected to boost the state’s technological capabilities and contribute to the growth of the digital economy in the region,” Saini said, as quoted in the statement.

“Other area where they expressed interest is Artificial Intelligence. They are also looking Haryana to become hub for cloud computing, AI and other related aspects. They are not asking for financing at the moment, but knowledge input,” Kouame told PTI.

In agriculture, Haryana aims to achieve zero stubble burning by 2030.

As per the government statement, the Haryana Clean Air Project was also discussed.

This initiative is aimed at enhancing sustainable development in the state and improving air quality.

With a total project investment of Rs 3,647 crore, the World Bank has committed to providing a loan of Rs 2,498 crore to support the implementation of the project, the statement said.

The Haryana state government will contribute Rs 1,066 crore, and an additional Rs 83 crore has been allocated as a grant. This funding will be directed towards initiatives such as air pollution control measures, sustainable urban development, and the promotion of cleaner technologies, it said.

Kouame said, “We are also preparing a new country partnership framework for next five years which will be framed in partnership with the Ministry of Finance… it will frame how we will engage with India in the next five years, what would be the priority topics which we will support and how we will work with the Centre as well as the states.

“In that context, I was here to learn more about Haryana and Punjab’s priorities and to hear from the chief ministers. Especially as we look at 2047 when India aims to become a developed nation, how it is playing out at the state level and what are their own (state’s) ambitions,” he said.

The development of key Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) projects in Haryana, including the crucial Delhi-Gurugram corridor, were also discussed in the meeting.

“The other areas of interest which they (Haryana govt) mentioned include transport, in particular Delhi-Gurugram project that has been posed to the World Bank and to the European Investment Bank. So, it will be a jointly financed project,” Kouame said.

The state government also sought financing for a water-specific project. It could focus on irrigation or look at underground water and help build water table up. It can help improve supply of water for other uses, not just irrigation. Once the proposal is received, it will be considered in due course, he said.

Meanwhile, according to the government statement, Chief Minister Saini also expressed keen interest for collaboration with the World Bank on the ambitious interlinking of rivers project.

“The interlinking of rivers is expected to significantly improve irrigation facilities across the state and help implement the Amrit Sarovar Scheme, which aims to rejuvenate water bodies and enhance water storage capacity particularly in rural areas.

“This collaboration will ensure better water management, improve agricultural productivity, and contribute to the long-term sustainability of Haryana’s water resources,” the statement said.

Saini said “a team from Haryana will soon visit Gujarat to study the interlinking of rivers in Gujarat”.

Chief Principal Secretary to Haryana Chief Minister, Rajesh Khullar, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Arun Kumar Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department Anurag Rastogi, were among those present during the meeting.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

India’s priority is not to impose its dominance but to enhance its influence, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said, asserting that no country, whether the US or China, can ignore New Delhi today.

Ms. Sitharaman made the remarks on Wednesday during a panel discussion on “Bretton Woods at 80: Priorities for the Next Decade” organised by the Center for Global Development here.

The minister arrived here on Tuesday to attend the annual meetings of the Bretton Woods Institutions — the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

“India’s priority is not to impose its dominance, in the sense we are the biggest democracy we have in the world, the largest population, but to enhance its influence,” she said.

Asserting that one in every six people in the world is an Indian, she said, “You just cannot ignore our economy and the way in which it is growing.”

Ms. Sitharaman underscored that the course developed countries took, from producing textiles, cycles, bikes, etc, and reaching development, is “no longer available”.

Questioning if India was in a position to define that path, she talked about the country’s leading role in technology and how Indians have the system to run complex corporate set-ups.

“You really can’t ignore it. Also, the geopolitical neighbourhood in which we live. No country, the US, which is very far away from us, or China, which is very close to us, can ignore us,” she said.

During the discussion, she said that India has always “stood in favour of multilateral institutions” and added that it has followed policies of “strategic and peaceful multilateralism”.

However, she highlighted that multilateral institutions are failing to produce viable solutions.

“We didn’t want any time undermining any multilateral institution. But progressively we see the hope and the expectations which were pinned on multilateral institutions are frittered away because we think no solutions are coming out of them,” she said.

“These institutions now are not offering an alternative pathway,” she added.

She said that multinational institutions, with a wealth of information and experience, manpower, and human resources, should strengthen institutions for the global good, which is “very necessary” to strengthen multilateralism.

“We are in favour of multilateralism,” Ms. Sitharaman added.

She stressed that the Bretton Woods institutions should work on this, rather than reacting to future developments.

“Unfortunately, in the last few decades, we see them reacting to future developments with the strength that they have. Therefore, information sharing is one thing,” she said.

“India, of course, has an international solar alliance and biofuel alliance, and we’re talking about disaster-resilient infrastructure. All these need money. All these need help for countries which are in smaller economies, island economies, which need them,” she said.

“So, through the digital public infrastructure that we have publicly funded and taken up to different countries, we are spreading that attention. These are areas in which India will contribute,” the Finance Minister said.

At a separate roundtable here, Ms. Sitharaman said that India has created the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) to transform the infrastructure systems for resilience against natural disasters and adapt to climate change.

Chairing the Roundtable on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, she stressed the danger of the development gains being undercut by increasing climate-induced risks to infrastructure and the critical services it supports.

Ms. Sitharaman said that over the years, India has ensured resilient economic growth by not only investing in hard infrastructure but also in building institutional capacity through creating national and state-level Disaster Management Agencies.

Reassuring India’s commitment to sharing best practices during this resilience-building journey, the Union Finance Minister extended assistance to Global South towards shared challenges. She said that India looks forward to partnering with Africa and other developing countries to strengthen their resilience of infrastructure.

She added that under the G20 India Presidency, a Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group was created to increase commitment to disaster and climate-resilient infrastructure and to prioritise stronger national financial frameworks for disaster risk reduction.

The minister also participated in the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable (GSDR).

In her intervention, she stressed improving timeliness, transparency and predictability, ensuring comparability of treatment among creditors and prioritising coordinated efforts to ensure low-cost, long-term financing and providing targeted technical assistance to strengthen fiscal capacity to build resilience in vulnerable countries.

Ms. Sitharaman called for a deeper dialogue to help countries meet debt obligations without compromising critical investments. She also cautioned against contingency financing instruments as they can result in deferred obligations, which can worsen future debt challenges.

She encouraged leveraging the GSDR’s informal platform to better understand the perspectives of all parties, address concerns and provide informed guidance to countries on the risks and benefits of these instruments.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India wants to enhance its influence in the world as one in every six persons is Indian and the world cannot ignore India’s economy.

While participating in a panel discussion on the ‘Bretton Woods Institutions at 80: Priorities for the Next Decade’, organised by the Center for Global Development on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Annual Meetings 2024 in Washington, DC, Ms Sitharaman stated that no country, whether US which is far away or China which is very close cannot ignore India.

When asked how nations like India and other big emerging markets step up and play a role that helps to take ownership of that process and drive the reform forward, Ms Sitharaman said, “Yes, absolutely possible. And on this, I just want to again start from where a thought of my Prime Minister came in and this is well thought through. He once said India’s priority is not to impose its dominance. In the sense we have the biggest democracy, we have in the world, the largest population but to enhance its influence. Now why do we want to have our influence enhanced? It’s only because the fact that today one in every six person in the world is an Indian and you just cannot ignore our economy and the way in which it is growing, that’s the second.”

“And third, the skilled manpower which today is in India and also everywhere else running large corporations which are for running institutions which are in large countries, developed countries. But yet that particular point that Larry mentioned, that in today’s world, the course which developed countries took, starting from producing textiles, cycles, bicycles and something else, and reaching development, is no longer available. It is going to be something else,” she added.

Stressing that no country can ignore India, Union Finance Minister stated, “Are we in a position to define that path? In that, one flag post which I want to draw your attention to about India and its role is leading on technology, servicing through technology, leveraging technology and that is where when you look at Indians everywhere you are saying that they are the ones before sitting and readily saying yes we will give you the systems which can run complex corporate whether it is a refining system, oil refining system, whether it is multilateral banking system or anything else. So, you really can’t ignore and also the geopolitical neighbourhood in which we live. No country, the US which is very far away from us or China which is very close to us, cannot ignore us.”

Nirmala Sitharaman stated that India has always backed multilateral institutions and did not at any time seek to undermine any multilateral institution. She said that expectations pinned on multilateral institutions are fissured away as no solutions are coming out of them.

Expressing India’s support for multilateral institutions, the Union Minister said, “I think we have followed policies of strategic and peaceful multilateralism. The multilateralism of which you want us to speak about. India has always stood in favour of multilateral institutions. We didn’t want any time undermining of any multilateral institution. But progressively we see the hope and the expectations which are pinned on multilateral institutions are fissured away because we think no solutions are coming out of them.”

“So again, Larry said, these institutions now are not offering an alternative pathway. That is where one of my points is, the core competencies of these institutions, in that they look at so many different economies, look at the dynamism with which some economies are growing and some which are getting stunted, the information base that they have, they should be the first ones to share the information and they should be the first ones to also suggest without imposing,” she added.

Other panellists during the discussions included Emeritus President and Charles W Eliot University Professor, Harvard University, Lawrence H Summers, Spain’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Business Carlos Cuerpo and Egypt’s Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation Rania A. Al Mashat.

Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. @nsitharaman participates in a discussion on the ‘Bretton Woods Institutions at 80: Priorities for the Next Decade’, organised by the Center for Global Development @CGDev on the sidelines of the World Bank and IMF… pic.twitter.com/AuaOeSVOw0

— Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) October 23, 2024

Ms Sitharaman stressed that multilateral institutions should strengthen themselves for the global good. She said that shaping the future is an ambitious goal and called for the involvement of Bretton Woods institutions in it.

She said, “In one of my earlier conversations with Larry, he voiced the concern, saying how would institutions like IMF and the World Bank go about telling an economy to a country that your economy is in a wretched position, you can’t do anything about it. They can’t, they cannot and they need not.”

“But yet, they can, with a wealth of information and experience and the manpower, the kind of human resources they have, share in time information with countries and also lead to build the strength of institutions, not tear down institutions, but strengthen up institutions for the global good, which I would think is very necessary to strengthen multilateralism. We are in favour of multilateralism. We of course spoke about a lot of things about …, LiFE, which is a mission in India, LiFE being the lifestyle for environment, adapt to certain kinds of living and so on,” she added.

Stressing the Bretton Woods institutions role in shaping the future, the Union Finance Minister said, “Shaping the future is one very ambitious nice goal and we need to follow that and we need to have Bretton Woods institutions work on that rather than reacting to future developments. Unfortunately, in the last few decades, we see them reacting to future developments with the strength that they have. And I think, therefore, information sharing is one thing.”

The Bretton Woods Institutions are the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). They were set up at a meeting of 43 countries in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire in the US in July 1944. Their aims were to help rebuild the shattered postwar economy and promote international economic cooperation.

In her remarks, Ms Sitharaman said, “India, of course, has International Solar Alliance, Biofuel Alliance, and we’re talking about disaster-resilient infrastructure and all these need money. All these need help for countries which are in smaller economies, island economies, which need them. So, through the digital public infrastructure that we have publicly funded and taken it up to different countries, we are spreading that attention and I think these are areas in which India will contribute.”

Nirmala Sitharaman arrived in Washington, DC on Wednesday. India’s Ambassador to the US, Vinay Kwatra, welcomed her in Washington, DC. Prior to visiting Washington, DC, Ms Sitharaman was in New York.

In a post on X, the Ministry of Finance stated, “Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. @nsitharaman is welcomed at Washington DC by India’s Ambassador to USA, Shri @AmbVMKwatra after her arrival from New York, today evening.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

India’s growth rate is the shiniest part in the global economy, World Bank president Ajay Banga said on Thursday, noting that a lot of this is driven by the domestic market.

“There is no doubt that India’s growth rate is among the shiniest parts in the world economy. I think being able to grow at six, seven per cent and more in this kind of environment shows you that they’ve done a number of things to get there,” Banga told reporters ahead of next week’s annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

“A lot of that growth is in India, is driven by the domestic market as well, which actually is a healthy sign, in some ways. What India needs to work on as the prime minister laid out is things on quality of life, like air and the quality of water and the like,” he said.

“We are actively engaged with them on a number of topics to do with these, and I think we will see more results of those coming out in the coming months in terms of projects,” Banga said in response to a question.

World Bank Managing Director for Operations Anna Bjerde said the bank is supporting the government turning the growth into jobs and also sustainable development.

She underscored the need to increase female workforce participation as India has a huge potential to increase the level of participation by women.

The World Bank is also working with India on the urban development side as there’s so much potential to make cities much more livable whether it comes to air quality, water supply or urban planning. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

World Bank President Ajay Banga. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

India’s growth rate is among the shiniest parts of the world economy, World Bank president Ajay Banga said on Thursday (October 17, 2024), noting that a lot of this is driven by the domestic market.

“There is no doubt that India’s growth rate is among the shiniest parts in the world economy. I think being able to grow at six, seven percent and more in this kind of environment shows you that they’ve done a number of things to get there,” Mr. Banga told reporters ahead of next week’s annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

“A lot of that growth is in India, is driven by the domestic market as well, which actually is a healthy sign, in some ways. What India needs to work on as the Prime Minister laid out is things on quality of life, like air and the quality of water and the like,” he said.

“We are actively engaged with them on a number of topics to do with these, and I think we will see more results of those coming out in the coming months in terms of projects,” Mr. Banga said in response to a question.

World Bank Managing Director for Operations Anna Bjerde said the bank is supporting the government in turning the growth into jobs and also sustainable development.

Also Read: Growth matrix: On the economy’s performance

She underscored the need to increase female workforce participation as India has a huge potential to increase the level of participation by women.

The World Bank is also working with India on the urban development side as there’s so much potential to make cities much more livable whether it comes to air quality, water supply or urban planning.