FM Nirmala Sitharaman participates in 102nd meeting of World Bank Development Committee Plenary

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman participated in 102nd meeting of the World Bank Development Committee Plenary through video conference. In her intervention at this session, FM Sitharaman said that COVID -19 Pandemic continues to impact the developing and developed countries till date and the hard-fought gains in reducing the level of poverty, achieved over a number of years, are at risk of being lost.

The Ministry of Finance retweeted a tweet of #IndiaFightsCorona that reads, "Finance Minister @nsitharaman participates in 102nd meeting of World Bank Development Committee Plenary; says Govt has committed $2.03 billion for the strengthening of health infrastructure in the wake of #COVID19 pandemic. #Unite2FightCorona #StaySafe"

The Minister said, the Government of India has taken several measures to contain the spread of the pandemic, and also to mitigate its social and economic impact.

The Finance Minister also apprised the Committee about the major reforms in the labour sector by simplifying, amalgamating and rationalising 44 central labour laws, providing effective social protection to the migrant workers through National Portability of ration cards. Mrs Sitharaman shared that the Government has announced the first stimulus of 23 billion dollars to provide direct cash transfers and food security measures to the poor.

This was followed by a special economic package of $ 271 Billion - equivalent to 10% of India's GDP - based on a clarion call by Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for AatmaNirbhar Bharat or Self-Reliant India.

She also mentioned that the Government has committed 2.03 Billion dollars for strengthening health infrastructure in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

She said that being a responsible member of the global fraternity, India is ready to share its experience and also play a leading role in the South Asian region as part of its "Neighbourhood First" policy.

The Finance Minister stated that collective action is the key for an effective response to the pandemic and welcomed the strong performance in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2020 wherein World Bank Group has committed 45 billion dollars for COVID-19 response.