Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, 57, managing director of the World Bank since 2007 (earlier, she was the first woman to become both finance minister and foreign minister of Nigeria), came to India on a four-day trip. In an interview with Indivjal Dhasmana, she talks of some issues releant to her visit. Edited excerpts:
A few years before, the World Bank found evidence of corruption in some of its aided projects in India. Has the situation improved since, on corruption in India?
There is a discourse in India about this issue right now. The good thing is that policy makers seem responsive to what the population and voters are saying, putting in place measures to deal with this problem. This is going in the right direction. It is very important to tackle corruption, so that it does not undermine development. That is the bottom line.
How do you see the issue of bringing back money illegally stashed away abroad being dealt with?
There is a lot of hypocrisy. When it is tax evasion, you find if taxpayers of Germany, the US or France have put money in Switzerland, these countries get very upset. They beat up on Switzerland and money is returned. But when it is the money of poor countries that went there, you don’t see the same agitation. Nothing much happens. There is a lot of international hypocrisy that has to be dealt with.
Global food and fuel prices are expected to be at elevated levels this fiscal. What will be the World Bank’s plans to help vulnerable sections?
Rising global food and fuel prices are certainly a big concern for everyone, including the World Bank. More important is volatility. It creates a lot of uncertainty. We are concerned because when food prices rise, the poor get hit the most. We are very concerned about the impact on the poor. You know that as a result of rising food prices, 44 million more people have been thrown into poverty. We are trying to support those countries and the vulnerable population through several means. We have got a Global Food Prices Response Fund that has about $1.2 billion and the idea is to support countries. We have increased the amount to $2 bn now and we will use it to support seeds and fertilisers.
We are also interested in investing in agriculture long-term. We think the solution to food (shortage) is to invest in (agriculture in) the longer term. We are going to raise investment in agriculture from the World Bank group from about $4 bn a year to $8 bn. Already, this fiscal, it is at $6 bn. We want to increase it to $8 bn. The increase in investment in agriculture will include India as well.
How are you going to aid India, which together with China is driving Asian growth?
With India, we are talking about support to infrastructure, how to use the World Bank resources to mobilise more money. Last year, we lent $9.9 bn to India, record levels. This year, it is going to be $5.5 bn. We can use this to leverage additional resources from the private sector. So, we fully expect to be supportive of India in infrastructure.
But India’s needs are vast. So, it would not be from the World Bank alone. The Asian Development Bank, private sector has to be brought in. We also work with India in inclusive growth, to help the poor at the end of the spectrum, to ensure they get better jobs, safety nets, fight mortality. We will also be working in the field of education to help improve skills. So, there is plenty of scope for the World Bank to help emerging market economies like India and help them continue a fast pace of growth.
