Finance Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman, on Wednesday, asked Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to increase the investment of the bank in sectors such as clean energy, social infrastructure, education, health , and digital infrastructure.
Nirmala Sitharaman was speaking at the 7th annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the AIIB through video conference when she made a statement regarding the need for more investment in public Infrastructure. According to the finance minister, a holistic investment approach from AIIB in above said sectors would have a long-lasting impact. It will also ensure that the resources are not scattered and also assist institutions in ensuring the maximum utilization of scarce resources.
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank based in Beijing, China was formed in 2016 as a multilateral regional Investment Bank. India was one of the founding members of the bank and is currently the second-largest shareholder in the international financial institution with a 7.65 percent voting share.
During the conference, Finance Minister also pointed out the strength of the Indian economy which has so far been successful in remaining resilient towards global headwinds. According to Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s “well-targeted policy mix, accompanied by major structural reforms and sound external balance sheet”, has aided its growth to remain resilient, despite exogenous threats.
Despite a slowdown in the fiscal growth of the domestic economy, the Indian economy will continue to be one of the fastest economies in the world in the next two financial years. International Monetary Fund had earlier said that Indian GDP will grow at a rate of 6.8 percent in the financial year 2023, which is twice the growth rate of the global economy during 2023.
She said that India will continue to harness the power of technology to increase the social protection of its citizens and increase financial inclusion. Such planned and efficient use of technology will have a huge impact on the economy of the nation.
Regarding the participation of AIIB in economic growth, Nirmala Sitharaman said that the bank should play a more active role in mobilizing private resources and efficient utilization of the same. AIIB should explore mechanisms to augment its resources as public resources will be highly scarce to conduct large-scale development projects and infrastructure needs of the member states.