India on Wednesday sought to build consensus on the definition of global developmental challenges as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attended a roundtable hosted by US Department of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen

India on Wednesday sought to build consensus on the definition of global developmental challenges as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attended a roundtable hosted by US Department of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen at the World Bank headquarters here.

Participating in the roundtable on “Multilateral Development Bank Evolution: Building Shareholder Consensus”, Sitharaman highlighted two fundamental issues concerning MDB Evolution: building consensus on the definition of global development challenges, and augmenting the financial and operational capacity of the World Bank Group, the finance ministry said in a series of tweets.

She said that in the true spirit of multilateralism, the multilateral development bank evolution dialogue needs to be inclusive, consensus-based, and recognise in full measure, the development perspectives and priorities of client countries.

“FM Smt. @nsitharaman stated that the calls to reinvigorate the @WorldBank present a historic opportunity to make the institution ‘fit for purpose’ to achieve the #SDGs alongside addressing national as well as global development challenges, both present and future,” the ministry said.

Discussions at the roundtable focused on the impact of global development challenges like climate change, pandemics, fragility and conflict on development progress, and reforms at the World Bank.

In her remarks, Yellen said that bold action is needed – both to protect against the erosion of past development gains, and to spur progress on new opportunities.

“The MDBs have undergone significant transformations throughout their history to reflect a changing global landscape. Now, almost 80 years after the founding of the World Bank, we call on these MDBs to evolve again to take decisive action on 21st century global challenges and redouble their vital development and poverty reduction work,” she said.

“We need to seize this moment. We know that global challenges like climate change, pandemics, and fragility and conflict are increasing in scope and complexity. And we know that they are disproportionately impacting the poorest and most vulnerable,” Yellen said.

The Bank, she said, has a long tradition of undertaking financial innovations to responsibly stretch its existing balance sheet. Shareholders have agreed to undertake reforms that could add up to USD 50 billion in financing over the next 10 years – while protecting the Bank’s credit rating and long-term financial sustainability.

Also read: Video: Indian MSME exports have a lot of competition currently, says PHD Chamber’s Vipin Vohra

“These are very significant achievements. We should acknowledge and celebrate that – especially our Board members who worked so hard with Bank management and staff. And then we need to push for more progress. We should use the rest of the year to undertake additional reforms through a staged implementation approach that can be agreed upon by the Board and implemented on a rolling basis,” she said.

“We can leverage upcoming events to keep the momentum strong – including the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact in June, the G20 Leaders’ Summit in September, the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF in October, and COP28 in November and December,” Yellen said.

https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/india-seeks-to-build-consensus-on-definition-of-global-development-challenges/3044689/