World Bank's financing to India in short to medium term expected to rise: Country Director

Bhopal, Feb 25 (PTI) World Bank's financing to India in the short to medium term is expected to rise with a focus on supporting the country's development goals, the bank's Country Director Auguste Tano Kouame said on Tuesday.

"India as a country is our largest client globally. We would like India to be our largest client...as India becomes an upper middle-income country and developed country, India would require lesser (sovereign) financing from us," he said.

With development, he said, India would require the World Bank's knowledge input more than financing.

"While in the short to medium term I can foresee our financing to India to grow, in the medium to long term it will phase down. It will be replaced with knowledge inputs," he told PTI in an interview on the sidelines of the Madhya Pradesh Global Investors Summit (MP GIS) 2025 here.

However, he said, investment towards the private sector would pick up as industry starts playing a greater role in development.

Talking about the World Bank's engagement with Madhya Pradesh, Kouame said, renewable energy is one of the focus areas for the state.

Besides, the state also wants to invest in improving urban infrastructure and this was discussed in the meeting with the Chief Minister and other senior officials of the state.

"We also talked about skills and nutrition. We heard the authorities. We are working with them towards this agenda," he said.

Speaking about Invest MP, he said, it is not just an important event for the state but also for the whole country.

"We have been providing support to MP directly through loans since 1973, and we have been active here in many sectors, from agriculture to transport to renewable energy to urban development. Going forward, as we prepare our new country partnership in term for the next five years, we are looking to scale up our engagement in Madhya Pradesh," he said. PTI ANZ DP DP MR

Source: PTI