India has come forward in the era of slowdown in the global economy: Ajay Banga
Indian economy is safe due to its domestic consumption despite the slowdown globally.
World Bank President Ajay Banga said on Wednesday that India is taking many such steps in the era of global slowdown which is helping to keep it ahead. In a conversation with reporters, Banga said that India has emerged stronger from the challenges arising during the pandemic, but it needs to maintain this momentum even further.
Banga said that India is doing a lot in the midst of a global slowdown that is helping to keep it ahead. One special thing in India’s favor is that a large proportion of its GDP is domestically generated. India has emerged stronger from the challenges of the pandemic but it needs to keep up the momentum. Banga said that despite the global slowdown, the Indian economy is safe because of its domestic consumption. When asked about the possible increase in high-income jobs, Banga said that we have to understand where these jobs are. These jobs are in the technology sector and are very few in number. Then there are such jobs in the manufacturing sector.
At present, there is an opportunity in front of India to take advantage of the ‘China plus one’ strategy. China plus one strategy means that the companies of the developed countries of the world now want to add any other country with China as their manufacturing center. For this, India has also emerged as a potential contender. Banga said that India also needs to keep in mind that the opportunity offered by the ‘China plus one’ strategy will not be open to it for 10 years.
This is an opportunity available for three to five years that requires moving the supply chain to another country or connecting another country with China. The complete shutdown of manufacturing activities in China during the Kovid-19 pandemic had a severe impact on the supply chain.
Since that time multinational companies started looking for alternatives to China for manufacturing activities. He said that he also discussed several issues with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman like the G20 summit and cooperation between the World Bank and India. The 63-year-old Banga, who took charge of the World Bank earlier last month, is currently on a tour of India. This is his first visit to India as World Bank President.
‘Need to be prepared for the next pandemic’
Banga said that we have real challenges regarding the generation going to school during the pandemic. He said that when we were hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, developed and developing countries were learning to deal with it. There was a huge loss of learning due to prolonged school closures during this period and tackling this loss is not just India’s problem, it is a worldwide issue.
He said that I am of the opinion that we should learn a lesson now. To a large extent, we have to make sure that we learn to build a system before the next pandemic, otherwise we will repeat the same mistakes. It is certain that the next epidemic will definitely come. The question is, how much do we learn before it arrives? This is a big question for me. The World Bank had earlier said that prolonged closure of schools in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic could result in a loss of USD 400 billion in future earnings for the country, apart from loss of learning.
Indian-American Banga (63) took over as the President of the World Bank last month. Banga is the first black person to head either of the two global financial institutions (the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund). He is on his first visit to India after assuming this post. He will attend the meeting of G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors of member countries to be held in Ahmedabad. On Wednesday morning, he visited the Skill Development Center in Dwarka and interacted with the students.
