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| Sunday, 21 November 2004 |
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World Bank chief praises India's economic blueprint LONDON, (Reuters) The head of the World Bank praised the Indian government's policy roadmap on Saturday and suggested the country's new leaders were as good as it gets. James Wolfensohn said the Common Minimum Programme of the leftist-backed Congress-led government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was precisely in tune with the Bank's objectives for development.."I think it is an absolutely first-class blueprint," World Bank president Wolfensohn said in an interview with London's Financial Times newspaper. "We have a hell of a good plan, there are non-corruptible people at the top who are both internationalists and Indian nationalists, they are incredibly smart and work hard. "The document is perfect." Singh's coalition government, backed by communist parties, swept to power in May after a stunning defeat of the Hindu nationalist-led government in what was seen as the revenge of the rural poor for being left out of the economic boom. Its programme promises to strengthen public-sector firms, rejuvenate the key farm sector and ensure that the benefit of its economic reforms reach the poor. Wolfenhsohn, who the paper said was offering to double the World Bank's annual lending to India to $3 billion, added the real test for the government would be implementation of the plans. In talks with the Indian prime minister on Friday, he identified four key areas for Bank aid - water, electricity, transport infrastructure and social projects. |
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