World Bank ready to increase lending

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, NOV. 13. The visiting World Bank President, Mr. James D. Wolfensohn, today indicated that his organisation was willing to raise the level of commitments to India to around $ 3 billion by the end of 2001 and to $ 4 billion thereafter. Confirming this after a meeting with the Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, he chief said, ``I have told the Minister that as far as the Bank is concerned, we are more than happy to look at an expansion of activities and I think each one of us is keen to make sure that we spend the money correctly. We are going to work together.''

From the Indian side, two basic points were made to Mr. Wolfenshon - that there was a case for enhanced lending to India and that it would be better for the Bank to coordinate all assistance with the Centre than with the States exclusively.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sinha told presspersons that he was tracking the growth rate of the economy closely. This even as his ministry informed Mr. Wolfensohn that the economy was estimated to grow at six per cent plus this year.

Reiterating that there were problems and challenges, Mr. Sinha said the Government was looking at both short and medium-term solutions to reverse the slowdown in the economy. Some action had been initiated on the suggestions received from chambers of commerce and industry associations and more steps would follow.

The Minister said the cement industry was starting to look up, with housing activity picking up, but a greater boost was required to reach the 20 per cent growth this sector recorded last year. The Government was trying to expedite the highway projects as also construction of bridges in rural and urban areas which should pep up the cement industry.

Other infrastructure sectors were also being looked into with the Government trying for early financial closure of some of the private sector power projects.

The likely growth rate of the economy came in for comment from Mr. Wolfensohn, who said that while there was a slight cause for worry about the level of investment and drop in the growth rate, the projected six per cent growth was ``still good'' compared with other economies. The World Bank chief executive said he had seen a lot of development during his field visits in the last few days and that much progress had taken place in social areas in the past four years. Mr. Wolfensohn was last in India in 1996.

In the coming years, the World Bank would continue to emphasise on both social and physical infrastructure, he said. Education, health, poverty, water and infrastructure sectors such as highways and power in India would receive special focus.

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