India,s quick response to COVID vaccination drive resulting in ‘V-shape-recovery’: Sitharaman

India’s swift response to limit the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and undertake massive vaccination campaigns is resulting in a “V-shaped recovery,” Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the sixth annual meeting of the New Development Bank (NDB) Board of Governors via videoconference, Sitharaman highlighted that India’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign, the largest in the world, is underway and, until To date, 63.9 million doses of COVID vaccines have been delivered to 80 countries, including 10.4 million doses of the vaccine in the form of grants.

“The Finance Minister underscored India’s swift response to limit the impact of the pandemic and undertake massive vaccination campaigns that are resulting in a ‘V-shaped recovery’,” said a statement from the Finance Ministry.

He also recognized the achievements and progress of the NDB over the past six years and highlighted the bank’s role in counter-cyclical lending through the $ 10 billion Emergency Assistance Program to support member countries in the fight against the pandemic of COVID.

In addition, he stressed the need for NDB to maintain and improve the ratings assigned by international rating agencies through adequate capitalization, high-quality governance and prudent management.

Sitharaman also encouraged the NDB to facilitate private sector participation, explore more innovative financing structures, discover co-financing opportunities with other MDBs, develop a portfolio of bankable projects, and promote environmental and social safeguards to improve infrastructure sustainability.

“India is going to establish a new DFI with an initial paid-up capital of around USD 3 billion with a loan target of USD 69 billion over the next three years,” he said suggesting to the NDB that it develop a synergistic relationship with these institutions They share their development priorities to achieve better results.

NDB, a multilateral development bank, was created by the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) in 2014 with the aim of mobilizing resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in the BRICS and other EMDCs around the world.

The Bank has been in operation since 2015, with its headquarters in Shanghai, China. NDB has so far approved 18 projects from India for an amount of USD 6.924 million. The meeting was also attended by governors / alternate governors from Brazil, China, Russia and South Africa.