Stories
Sitharaman Urges World Bank to Prioritize Critical Minerals, AI and Governance Review
- •Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman called on the World Bank Group to address market failures in critical minerals, tourism, agricultural exports, and urbanisation.
- •She highlighted artificial intelligence as a vital tool to boost state capacity in developing nations and urged its inclusion in the Bank's agenda.
- •Sitharaman demanded a comprehensive review of the Worldwide Governance Indicators to ensure transparency, objectivity, and alignment with current realities.
- •She pressed for competitive development financing through local-currency funding, lower transaction costs, and stronger guarantee products.
- •The Finance Minister emphasized the need for greater representation of developing economies in the World Bank's governance structure.
Key Questions Answered
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urged the World Bank Group to address market failures in critical minerals, tourism, agricultural exports, and urbanisation. She also emphasized leveraging artificial intelligence to strengthen state capacity in developing countries.
Sitharaman called for a comprehensive review of the methodologies behind the Worldwide Governance Indicators and similar composite assessments. She stressed that updates must ensure these metrics are transparent, evidence-based, objective, and reflective of member countries' diverse development realities.
The Finance Minister urged the World Bank to offer more competitive development financing through local-currency funding, stronger guarantee products, and lower transaction costs. She also pressed for the accelerated operationalization of the World Bank Group's Guarantee Platform to boost risk-capital formation.
