Announcing the appointment of Isabel Guerrero, a Chilean national who recently was the World Bank’s country director for Mexico and Columbia, as the new country director of India, Praful C. Patel, regional vice-president for South Asia projected the eradication of the worst form of poverty — typically a family of subsisting under $1 a day — by 2015. Talking about World Bank lending Patel said: “The bank’s programme in India is estimated to increase from its current annual average of $2.5 billion to an average of $4 billion over the next three years”. In fiscal 2007-08, the World Bank is expected to lend about $3.5 billion by June. On the fund’s allocation, Patel said that the key focus would be infrastructure, supporting lagging states and scaling up service delivery since they are paramount for the robust growth trajectory India was on.The World Bank’s target for the purpose of lending in infrastructure would be: rural infrastructure, large infrastructure projects and public-private partnership for which it has already rendered assistance to three projects. For lagging states, the World Bank is targeting Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. Patel also emphasised focus on healthcare for which the World Bank is planning to allocate 23 per cent of the funds during current financial year. He also expressed concerns over good governance as the key parameter to lending. “We need adequate governance and complete transparency. Whenever we see a gap it is discussed and sorted out,” he said. Talking about the recent jump in inflation Patel said, “Our reaction to inflation is akin to that of any other bank. However, the recent inflation has not been substantial enough to impact our rates or our lending decision.”
