India deserves more funds: World Bank

Wednesday, 21 May 2003, 19:30 IST
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BANGALORE: World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern has termed India's growth "very striking" and worthy of enhanced resources from the bank's donor nations. "India has done pretty well. Five years after introducing reforms, it recorded growth of 6.7 percent and 5.5," he told a news conference called to announce the three-day conference on development economics opening here Wednesday. "India is closer to the margin between lower income and lower middle income," he said, adding the country also required resources for fresh drinking water, education and investment in infrastructure. "I hope the donor nations will see a moral obligation to help India. And I hope good management of resources helps more aid flowing to the desired sections. India remains a poor country. It has nearly 20 to 25 percent of the world's population that lives on less than a dollar a day," he said. "India has shown to the developing world how to carry out reforms. Growth has been slowing last couple of years, but if India has to re-accelerate growth it has to push up its reforms effort," Stern said. The three-day conference, the Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE), will focus on accelerating development and is being held outside Washington for the first time in its 14-year history. The conference is considered the world's leading gathering on development economics where scholars from the developed and developing nations share ideas. "India and China are some of the best examples of accelerating development. It is about the successes and failures of development," Stern said. "It is a tribute to how development resources have grown in developing countries. We are seeing now strong research taking place in developing countries. The bank has come to learn from South East Asia. It is also a signal that the World Bank is going out to learn. It is becoming more operational," he said.
Source: IANS