World Bank for lending in country-specific currency
Says it’ll reduce borrowing cost in countries like India
image for illustrative purpose
The Indian government has a huge advantage in local currency borrowing as compared to the World Bank, even though the Washington DC-based multilateral bank is rated AAA. In some countries in Africa, which don’t possess market infrastructure from where the bank can borrow, the bank may not adopt the local currency lending strategy, said Anshula Kant, MD & CFO, World Bank
Mumbai: The World Bank (WB) is mulling local currency lending in countries like India to help borrowers save on costs, a senior official said on Friday. “How do we do local currency lending for a country like India is also something we are trying to think of at a price which is advantageous to this country,” Anshula Kant, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of the World Bank, said.
Speaking at the event on global economy organised by the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as part of India’s G-20 Presidency, Kant said the Indian government has a ‘huge advantage’ in local currency borrowing as compared to the World Bank, even though the Washington DC-based multilateral bank is rated AAA.
In some countries like the ones in Africa, which don’t possess market infrastructure from where the bank can borrow, the bank may not adopt the local currency lending strategy, Kant said.
At the event, Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India V Anantha Nageswaran said global inflationary pressures are easing more than expected.
He said persistence of core inflation globally continues to be a cause of concern and added that there is a need for coherence between fiscal and monetary policies.
