India among top World Bank investors: Ajay Banga

Washington: India has emerged alongside the United States and Britain as one of the leading sources of private capital mobilised by the World Bank Group, its President Ajay Banga has said, as the institution announced plans to expand its critical minerals business fivefold over the next five years.

In his address to the World Bank Annual Meeting plenary in Bangkok, Banga highlighted India's growing role in international development financing.

"Last year, we mobilised capital from investors in 110 countries. The United States, United Kingdom, and India led the way," Banga said.

The World Bank chief said private capital mobilisation had increased threefold, from approximately $35 billion in fiscal 2022 to $112 billion last year.

Combined with the institution's own financing, total financing exceeded $230 billion, reflecting efforts to bring public and private resources together for development projects.

Banga said investment mobilisation had nearly tripled in lower-middle-income countries, quadrupled in upper-middle-income economies and more than doubled across Africa.

However, private capital mobilisation in low-income countries remained around $3 billion, highlighting the continuing difficulties in attracting commercial investment to the world's poorest economies.

Banga also outlined plans for a substantial expansion of the World Bank's involvement in critical minerals, a sector increasingly important for manufacturing, infrastructure and emerging technologies.

"In critical minerals, we plan to quintuple our business in five years," he said.

The World Bank has launched its first country compacts with multilateral development bank partners to help developing economies build domestic industries and retain a greater share of the economic benefits from their mineral resources.

Banga said the institution had identified 20 countries as potential partners for the initiative.

The strategy seeks to move beyond financing mineral-related activities towards supporting local industries, employment generation and value addition in resource-producing economies.

The World Bank chief placed the initiatives within a broader development strategy designed to address a looming global employment challenge.

Over the next 10 to 15 years, approximately 1.2 billion young people are expected to enter the global labour market, while only about 400 million jobs are projected to become available.

That would leave a potential employment shortfall of nearly 800 million.

"The jobs gap is a projection. It does not have to be our future," Banga said.

He said the World Bank was combining investment in infrastructure, regulatory reforms and financial instruments to reduce risks for private investors.

Last year, the institution committed $40 billion to infrastructure, healthcare, education and skills development, while 30 per cent of its public-sector financing supported policy and institutional reforms.

Banga also announced that six multilateral development banks were developing common standards to assess, package and transfer investments to institutional investors.

The arrangement would allow development banks to release capital tied to existing projects and finance new infrastructure and development initiatives.

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