Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said that despite exogenous threats, India’s well-targeted policy mix, accompanied by major structural reforms and a sound external balance sheet, have aided its growth to remain resilient.
She made these observations while attending the 7th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), via video conferencing.
The Finance Minister shared her thoughts in the Governor’s Roundtable Discussion on the theme “Financing Infrastructure in a Crisis-Prone World”.
She also appreciated the AIIB for its continued commitment and dedication to assist members and for providing high-quality development finance.
The Finance Minister emphasized that India has embarked on the path of a self-reliant economy and therefore has been successful in mitigating the negative effects of the pandemic.
Further, she highlighted, ” India has made remarkable progress through its Digitalization Mission, utilizing technology to facilitate social protection and boost financial inclusion.”
While advocating the need to enhance climate finance, the Finance Minister highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is actively leading India’s climate change response efforts through various programmes such as ‘Lifestyle for Environment’ among many others.
Sitharaman urged the bank’s management to further intensify private sector capital mobilisation and explore mechanisms to augment its lending headroom.
While suggesting the AIIB set up full-fledged country offices, she also advised the bank to work towards expanding the scope of its mid-stream and upstream engagement activities, such as increased technical assistance to help clients translate strategies into investment plans.
Every year at the Annual Meeting, the Board of Governors meets to take key decisions on important matters relating to AIIB, and its future vision. India is a Founding Member and the second largest shareholder in AIIB. India also has the largest project portfolio within AIIB. The theme of this year’s Annual Meeting was “Sustainable Infrastructure Toward a Connected World”.