India to get $6 billion ADB loan

India will get loan of about $6 billion from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) over the next three years for various projects including those in energy and education sectors.A "Our idea is ADB will maintain its lending level to India, approximately $2 billion over next three years. "We are now working on the country partnership strategy and we are planning to maintain the level of lending to India," ADB President Takehiko Nakao said at the concluding day of the 46th annual meeting of the funding agency here. India is the biggest borrower of ADB as the Manila-based multilateral lender had extended $2.4 billion loan to it in 2012 across sectors like transport, energy, commerce and industry, trade, finance, agriculture and natural resource management and it will like to continue extending assistance in these sectors.Nakao said that the bank will continue to lend $10 billion a year across the member-nations despite generating lower return from investments. Stating that ADB is facing a resource challenge, he said this issue will require urgent and careful attention. "We will look at all options for ensuring that our lending level remains adequate." Asked whether there was discussion on augmenting the capital of the bank at the Board of Governors meeting, Nakao said: "That is a very difficult issue. At this point I want to mention what kind of objections we are getting to maintain the level of lending. I don't want to specify what kind of idea we have at this moment."

Rajan disapproves sovereign bond to finance CAD Greater Noida (PTI): There is no reason to consider issuing a sovereign bond in global markets to fund India's bulging current account deficit (CAD), Chief Economic Advisor Raghuram Rajan said. "Certainly not foreign exchange denominated bond but even a rupee bond. Given that our focus is on easing access to Indian sovereign rupee markets and increasing liquidity here and raising depth here, it seems that's the safer way to finance than to go outside and issue a bond," he said speaking at a ADB seminar. "I am not saying these things will never change. At this point, there is no reason to look at it (sovereign bond issue)," Rajan said.