According to the experts, there can be many reforms in the banking system of the world if Ajay Banga becomes the President of the World Bank. His target will be developing and poor countries and it will have far reaching results.
It has been decided that Ajay Banga of Indian origin will be the next President of the World Bank . Last Wednesday, March 29, the deadline to nominate for the post ended, and Ajaypal Singh Banga, proposed by the US, was the only candidate whose name surfaced for the post.
63-year-old Banga's career has been very bright. He was born in Pune, Maharashtra and started his career not in America but in India, with Nestle and then Pepsico. He moved to America in the year 2000 and took citizenship there in 2007.
Who is Ajay Banga
Banga was the CEO of financial services company Mastercard for 10 years from 2010 and after that the executive chairman of this organization. At present, he was working on the post of Vice Chairman of American equity company General Atlantic until he was nominated as World Bank Chairman.
It is worth noting that there will be three more Indian-origin officers working on senior positions in the World Bank headed by Banga. These are World Bank's Chief Financial Officer Anshula Kant, Chief Economist Indermit Gill and Chief Risk Officer Lakshmi Shyam Sundar. It is being said jokingly that the World Bank is almost as much Indian as it is American.
Americans have often been the chairman
Generally, the Chairman of the World Bank has been an American citizen, but Jim Yong Kim of South Korea had the honor of being its first Asian American Chairman from 2012 to 2019. Banga will now be the second Asian American President of the World Bank. Probably he will take over his responsibility in the month of July.
Things related to World Bank in India
Know some other things related to World Bank and India. Its largest country office in the world is in New Delhi. The Global Service Center of the bank is located in Chennai, in which 1200 people work. Apart from Washington, the capital of America, World Bank employees do not work in such a large number at one place in the whole world.
The relationship between India and the World Bank is very old and close. India was involved in the founding of the World Bank in the year 1945 itself. In 1949, India became the first Asian country to take loan from the bank. At that time India used this loan of 34 million US dollars to develop a rail project.
Top borrower country
Historically, India is the top country to take loan from the World Bank. In the financial year 2022, the bank approved a loan of $ 4 billion for India. Indonesia is at number 2 and Colombia at number 3. But the sanctioned loan for both of them is only a little more than half that of India. Indonesia has got $2.60 billion loan approval from the World Bank and Colombia has got $2.13 billion loan approval.
That is, the World Bank is confident that the loan given to India, Indonesia and Colombia will be reimbursed. In many countries of our region ie South Asia, the situation is completely opposite. This thing is worth noting.
The form of loan received from the World Bank has been changing according to the needs of India. In the year 1950, a loan of 56 million dollars was given to Air India to buy 3 airplanes and a simulator for training. In the 1960s and 70s, the loan was used to purchase high-yielding seeds, farm equipment, and fertilizers to fuel the Green Revolution.
Since independence, the bank has given an amount of $ 128 billion for 673 projects in India, which were used for the betterment of transport, water, health and education apart from agriculture.
Challenges of Ajay Banga
In the present circumstances, the biggest challenge of World Bank Chairman Ajay Banga is to keep this organization relevant in the world. Many experts keeping a close eye on the bank say that now the World Bank's method of giving loan is becoming very complicated and time-consuming, due to which the borrower countries have started looking for other sources of loan.
Experts are of the opinion that reforms in the bank can happen only when developed countries including America reduce their voting share in the management of the bank. These countries do not want to do this and without increasing the voting share, developing and poor countries will not be able to change the working style of the World Bank.
India's helpers in the world
Look at India only, at present Japan is helping India in developing metro system in cities. France has also emerged as an alternative lender to India. India wants to become a 5 trillion economy by the year 2030 and a developed economy by the year 2047.
To achieve this goal, the Indian economy will have to grow at the rate of 8 percent every year. This is a difficult target. How much the World Bank will be able to cooperate with India in reaching this goal, it will prove the utility of the bank for India.
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