India’s growth rate gives it an advantage in tackling poverty if the country maintains the current momentum, the new World Bank President Ajay Banga said in Delhi today.
Banga, the first India-origin head of the global anti-poverty lender, said the best way to tackle poverty for India is through economic growth and jobs.
Responding to a question by NDTV on the recently released NITI Aayog report that said multidimensional poverty rate in India fell from 24.85 per cent in 2015-16 to 14.96 per cent in 2019-2021, Banga said, “The best way to drive a nail in the coffin of poverty is growth.”
He said gains in the global fight against poverty in the past four decades suffered a setback due to the COVID-19 pandemic and high interest rates, but India has an advantage due to the country’s economic growth.
“India has had an advantage over this (poverty) because your economy has been growing, you had a year or two of challenges during the pandemic, you’ve come out of it relatively strong. If you can maintain this momentum, the best way to tackle poverty is growth in jobs. The best way to drive a nail in the coffin of poverty is growth,” he said.
The World Bank President said most countries would be very happy with an over 7 per cent growth rate that India recorded in fiscal 2023. While India faced challenges during the two years of the pandemic, Banga said the country came out of the challenges relatively strong compared to others, though he stressed on the need for skill-building and education.
“I’m more optimistic about today than I was in the past few years, considering all the investment in digital and physical infrastructure. India is focused on growth and that makes me optimistic,” said Banga on the Indian economy’s outlook.
Banga was in India to attend the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meet in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar. He visited a Skill India Mission centre in Delhi’s Dwarka today.
