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Showing posts with label world bank. Show all posts
Showing posts with label world bank. Show all posts

Saturday, 22 April 2017

16:57

Facts About Indian Economy

Facts About Indian Economy 
Last updated: March, 2017
  • The Indian economy is expected to grow at 7.6 per cent in FY 2017-18, as per the forecast by The World Bank.
  • Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows rose 22 per cent year-on-year to US$ 35.84 billion during April– December 2016.
  • India's foreign exchange reserves were US$ 367.93 billion in the week up to March 24, 2017, as compared to US$ 366.78 billion over the past week.
  • Mutual Funds asset base reached an all-time high of Rs 17.9 trillion (US$ 276.11 billion) at the end of February 2017, as against Rs 17.37 trillion (US$ 267.93 billion) at the end of January 2017.
  • India’s Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose 2.7 per cent in January 2017, as against a decline of 0.1 per cent in December 2016. The cumulative IIP growth for April-January 2016-17 was 0.6 per cent as against 2.7 per cent growth for the same period in 2015-16.
  • The eight key infrastructure sectors rose 1 per cent in February 2017 as against 3.4 per cent in January 2017, with steel sector exhibiting the maximum growth of 8.7 per cent. The cumulative growth during April-February 2016-17 increased by 4.4 per cent.
  • India has moved up three index points to 136 in October-December 2016 quarter in Nielsen’s global consumer confidence index. The country's confidence score was 133 in July-September 2016 quarter, and 128 in April-June 2016 quarter.
  • Passenger vehicle sales rose 9 per cent year-on-year to 255,359 units in February 2017, as compared with 14 per cent year-on-year growth to 265,320 units in January 2017.
  • India's current account deficit (CAD) is expected to be around 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016-17, as against a deficit of 1.1 per cent in 2015-16. The CAD in December 2016 stood at US$ 10.4 billion, in comparison to a 16-month high of US$ 13 billion in November 2016.
  • India’s Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation rate rose to 6.5 per cent in February 2017 as against 5.2 per cent in January 2017.
  • India’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate increased to 3.65 per cent in February 2017, as against a decline of 3.17 per cent in January 2017.
  • Total Merger and Acquisition (M&A) activity declined 43 per cent in volume terms to 75 deals worth US$ 2 billion in February 2017. 
  • Total value of Private Equity (PE)/venture capital (VC) investments declined by 70 per cent year-on-year to US$ 343 million in February 2017. 

 Source:IBEF
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Wednesday, 2 November 2016

08:37

World Bank to soon rank cities on ‘ease of living’

World Bank to soon rank cities on ‘ease of living’

The World Bank Group will soon bring out an “ease of living” index that will rank cities globally, even as it is looking at tweaking the methodology used in its country-wise “ease of doing” business rankings to better capture reforms being carried out in large and diverse nations such as India.

The decision comes at a time when India has launched a mission to develop over 100 smart cities.

On the World Bank Group’s Doing Business index, India had suggested that reforms undertaken across the country and not just in Mumbai and Delhi be considered.

On the proposed ‘ease of living’ index to rank cities world-wide, Junaid Ahmad, World Bank Country Director, India, said, “One of the moot questions is that as you move more into high income [category], urban centres become extremely important, [including for] accommodation and so on. For cities to actually generate growth, the ease of living there has got to be very important.”

“We [the World Bank] have been working on it [‘ease of living’ index for cities] for several years now,” Mr. Ahmad said.

He said the methodology for the city-based index could be better than the Bank’s “ease of doing” business rankings.

The index could include categories on social inclusion, cost of living, public transport, housing, education, health, environment-friendliness, crime/safety, governance and corruption.

On the criticism regarding the World Bank Doing Business Report this year ranking India a lowly 130th despite several reforms being carried out by the government, Mr. Ahmad said the rankings did not capture important reforms including the laws on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and insolvency and bankruptcy as they did not come before the cut-off date.

Agreeing that the existing methodology could be tweaked to better capture reforms in big countries such as India, he said, “Everything is dynamic, you learn, you change, you shift. There is no one fixed approach. It is always a challenge for any bureaucracy including ours to learn and to adjust.”

Mr. Ahmad said when reforms such as the GST and those on bankruptcy and insolvency were included in next year’s rankings, India’s rank would improve vastly.

‘India’s rating will improve vastly

once GST and insolvency reforms are considered’

Source:The Hindu
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Wednesday, 26 October 2016

16:38

India 130th in World Bank’s ease of doing business

India 130th in World Bank’s ease of doing business

In the 2017 rankings released on Tuesday, the only major improvement for India was seen in the area of ‘getting electricity’.

India has moved one rank up to the 130th position in the World Bank’s ‘ease of doing business’ ranking for 2017. This marginal improvement came on the back of slight improvement in four indicators — getting electricity, enforcing contracts, trading across borders and registering property.

“Over the past two years, the government has implemented a host of reforms to make it easier for businesses to start, operate and exit. It is therefore disappointing that these achievements are not covered by the report due to methodological issues. The government has engaged with the World Bank multiple times in the process, and is hopeful that they will take into account all the implemented reforms in future reports,” said a government statement. India was last year ranked on 130th among 190 economies that were assessed over ten parameters.
Ramesh Abhishek, secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), said on Tuesday that a dozen of important reforms like enactment of bankruptcy code, GST, introduction of single window system for building plan approvals and online ESIC (Employees’ State Insurance Corporation) and EPFO (Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation) registrations were not recognized by the World Bank this year.
The DIPP, he said, will appoint external agencies “to help departments carry forward reforms, hold stakeholders consultations, and monitor implementation of reforms”.
In the 2017 rankings released on Tuesday, the only major improvement for India was seen in the area of ‘getting electricity’. “On getting electricity, the report recognised the efforts of Tata Power in Delhi to make it faster and cheaper to obtain a connection. These efforts, combined with efforts in Mumbai last year, have allowed India to improve its rank on this indicator from 137 to 26…,” said a government statement. India was ranked 51st for ‘getting electricity’ in 2016. In the area of ‘enforcing contracts’, the country’s ranking improved from 178 in 2016 to 172 in 2017.
“Our objective is that in the next 3-4 years, India must come in the top 30 countries as far as ease of doing business is concerned,” Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, had said in May, 2016.




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Saturday, 15 October 2016

21:50

SBI's Arundhati Bhattacharya likely to be nominated as World Bank MD & COO

SBI's Arundhati Bhattacharya likely to be nominated as World Bank MD & COO

India may need strong backing of US and other category 1 member countries, who have a large voting share

India has reportedly nominated State Bank of India chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya as the World Bank managing director and chief operating officer's position, but road to final selection may not be easy. India may need strong backing of US and other category 1 member countries, who have a large voting share.

The selection has to be cleared by the World Bank’s board of directors, which consist of country representatives.

The multilateral lender is led by a Board of Governors, made up of a representative for each of the 189 shareholder countries of the Bank, which serves as the policy-making body for the Bank. But since it only meets once a year, the Board of Governors elect a 24-person Board of Directors (also called Executive Directors) that meets bi-weekly.

Mukesh Nandan Prasad at the bank represents India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the Board of Directors.

The international financial institution provides loans to developing countries for capital programs .

India has a small share of over 2% in voting rights at WB, compared to over 15% by US. It makes it pertinent to have American support to push through India's choice as the WB COO and MD position, considered the third most important position at the bank.

Former chief economic adviser of India, Kaushik Basu was appointed the chief economist of WB in 2012 for four years. He has been succeeded by Paul Romer of US.

In 2001 former deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia was appointed as first director of the independent evaluation office of the International Monetary Fund.

The post of MD & COO fell vacant after Indonesian economist Sri Mulyani Indrawati returned to her country as its finance minister in July 2016.

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Monday, 22 August 2016

21:11

India giving World Bank all evidence of improved ease of doing business

India giving World Bank all evidence of improved ease of doing business

NEW DELHI: India is providing detailed evidence to the World Bank on ease of doing business as it seeks to break into the top 100 countries on the bank's index from its current rank of 130.

Officials said logs of construction permits, containerised cargo movement at ports and setting up of a company are being provided to World Bank as part of the Narendra Modi government's efforts to ensure it does not miss any point to score to improve India's rank.

World Bank officials had a few queries for the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) when they met on August 1 after completing field inspection and verification of claims over the 14 parameters on ease of doing business.

While the World Bank does not share its findings, one observation made by its team was that people were carrying paperwork to the offices of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation even as registration was made free of all physical touchpoints. "We clarified that it is only for claims that one needs to file the papers," said a senior DIPP official, who did not wish to be identified.

Besides, DIPP is now gathering its own evidence for cases where it feels respondents have not have kept in mind the assumptions made by the World Bank study.

"In case of construction permits the study is limited to warehouses or buildings on the outskirts or setting up of a company parameter is only for domestic enterprises and not how long it takes for a foreign entity," the official said.

DIPP is taking a proactive approach to provide evidence on its part even after the field investigations have been wrapped by the World Bank team. Final rankings will be announced in October. The ranking considers business environment in DELHI and Mumbai. India compares unfavourably even with countries such as Mexico, which is ranked 38, and Russia, which is at 51. Prime Minister Modi has set a target for India to be in the top 50 in three years.

Specific areas DIPP has targeted are starting business, insolvency procedures, construction permits, ease of trade across borders and electricity connections. According to the department, total number of days required to start a business has been reduced to 12 from 29 in the past year. A team of researchers spent two weeks in Delhi and Mumbai talking to actual users and stakeholders to study and verify implementation of reforms, officials said.

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Friday, 25 March 2016

21:51

World Bank support to Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin)

World Bank support to Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) 

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to the US $ 1,500 million project of World Bank Support to Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) [(SBM(G)]. 

The Project basically provides for incentivising States on the basis of their performance in the existing SBM-G. Incentivisation of States was approved by the Cabinet while approving the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) on 24th September, 2014. The current approval provides for the mechanism of such incentivisation through World Bank credit. 

Under the approved project, the performance of the States will be gauged through certain performance indicators, called the Disbursement-Linked Indicators (DLIs). Following are three DLIs. 

i.Reduction in the prevalence of open defecation: The funds under this result area shall be released to the States on the basis of reduction in prevalence of open defecation amongst rural households in the State, compared to the previous year, 

ii.Sustaining Open Defecation Free (ODF) status in Villages: The funds under this result area, shall be released on the basis of estimated population residing in ODF villages, 

iii.Increase in percentage of rural population served by improved Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM): The funds under this DL1 will be based on the population served with acceptable level of SLWM services. 

The States will pass on a substantial portion (more than 95 percent) of the Performance Incentive Grant Funds received from the MOWS, to the appropriate implementing levels of districts, Blocks, GPs etc. The end-use of the incentive grants will be limited to activities pertaining to the sanitation sector. 

The project will accelerate efforts to achieve sustained outcomes in sanitation by 2019. The incentive framework introduced through the project will reorient efforts of States towards the SBM(G) 'outcomes' such as reduction in open defecation, sustainable achievement of open defecation - free (ODF) villages and improvement in solid and liquid waste management (SLWM). The project will also put in place a robust and credible independent verification system for annual measurement of improvement in rural sanitation. The project will support the SBM(G) programme in achievement of its objectives of attaining open defecation- free and clean environment. Since poor sanitation is related to ill-health, malnutrition, poor education and poverty; achievement of SBM(G) objectives will have a beneficial effect on all of these. It will therefore ensure a better quality of life for the rural population.
Backgrounder: 
The total World Bank credit being obtained for the Project is US $ 1500 million (Rs. 9000 crore @ US $ l=Rs. 60), of which US $ 1475 million (Rs 8850 crore) is for providing incentive grant to the States and US$ 25 million (Rs 150 crore) is for providing programme management and capacity support to Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS). The proposed Project is, therefore, not a new scheme, but part of the existing SBM (G) and provides part-funding to SBM (G) as Externally Aided Project (EAP) credit to support incentivisation of States. In other words, a Performance- based Incentive Grant Scheme, as part of SBM (G), is proposed to be launched through World Bank support credit funds. 

The project comes in the background of acceleration of efforts under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) which has a goal to accelerate efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage, improve cleanliness and eliminate open defecation in rural India by 2019. The program is considered India's biggest drive to improve sanitation and cleanliness in the country. Under the new SBM (G), the focus is on behaviour change and creation of complete open defecation free (ODF) villages. The objective of the proposed programme is to reduce open defecation in rural areas and strengthen the capacity of Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation to manage the SBM(G) programme. The project will therefore, support the SBM(G) programme in achievement of its objectives of attaining an open defecation free and clean environment. 

 Source:PIBNEWS

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Friday, 15 January 2016

21:27

Government of India and World Bank sign a loan agreement for Neeranchal National Watershed Project.

Government of India and World Bank sign a loan agreement for Neeranchal National Watershed Project.

The Government of India today signed a loan agreement with World Bank here for the Neeranchal National Watershed Project. The project to be implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development over a six-year period (2016-21) will support the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana in hydrology and water management, agricultural production systems, capacity building and monitoring and evaluation. The Neeranchal project was approved by the cabinet in October last year with a total budget outlay of Rs.2142 crore with the Government share of Rs.1071 crore and the rest 50% by the World Bank.

Union Minister for Rural Development Shri Birender Singh who presided over the loan signing agreement later told the media that the all 28 states which implement the watershed projects will benefit from Neeranchal. He, however, added that nine states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujrat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana will benefit more from the project due to implementation of large number of watershed schemes in these states.

Shri Singh informed that 12% of the area which can be called as wasteland will be targeted through this project to make about 336 lakh hectares of land arable. The Minister said that the effective implementation of the scheme will go a long way in strengthening the economic conditions of the farming community.

Source:PIBNEWS

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