India borrowed $2.2 billion from the World Bank Group in the fiscal year 2009 (July 1, 2008–June 30, 2009), the highest in South Asia, mainly to revive growth and alleviate poverty.
Within South Asia, India was the largest borrower from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA), accounting for $2,242 million, the World Bank said in a release.
Overall, the World Bank Group committed $6.6 billion in the fiscal year 2009 to South Asia, an increase of $1.1 billion over the previous year.
Of the $6.6 billion, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which makes equity investments, and provides loans, guarantees, and advisory services to the private sector, committed close to $1.2 billion, while the IBRD and IDA lent $1.28 billion and $4.1 billion, respectively.
In India, a $400 million loan was extended to improve capital availability for small and medium enterprises, which face serious challenges in accessing adequate and timely finance on competitive terms, the release said.
It further said much of the bank’s support focused on helping South Asian countries cope with the impact of the global economic crisis.
“South Asian countries have been hard hit by a series of crises — food, then the fuel crisis, followed by the global financial crisis,” said Isabel M Guerrero, World Bank Vice President for South Asia.
“In response to the impact of these successive crises much of our work has been refocused to provide rapid financial assistance and policy advice to reverse the slowdown in growth and investment and to protect the poor and most vulnerable people,” she said.
Globally, the World Bank Group committed $58.8 billion in fiscal year 2009, up 54 per cent from fiscal year 2008.
“Requests for assistance from the World Bank Group rose sharply this year, and we expect this to continue well into 2010, as the pace of recovery is far from certain,” said World Bank Group President Robert B Zoellick.
“Millions of people are still suffering, and we must continue to help countries safeguard priority expenditures, including on essential infrastructure, investment in human capital, and social safety nets, or we will further jeopardize hard-fought gains over recent years in overcoming poverty,” Zoellick said.
