World Bank President Ajay Banga on Wednesday said that despite multiple issues like wars, climate change, pandemic, and other factors, India has come out of it relatively strong.
While talking to reporters, he added that the best way for India to maintain this momentum is through growth and more jobs.
“This year was full of challenges regarding poverty in the world. It was triggered by multiple issues like wars, climate change, pandemic, and other factors. However, India has come out of it relatively strong. The best way to maintain this momentum is growth and more jobs. India is focussed on growing more and more and generating more jobs,” said Banga.
“India is doing a lot of things which is helping it to stay ahead in times of a global slowdown. The high percentage of GDP will always work in India’s favour and will keep its economy going,” Banga added.
Banga also said that there were significant learning losses caused by school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, urging the development of mechanisms to prevent similar situations in future outbreaks.
"We have a real challenge for the generation which was undergoing schooling during the pandemic," Banga said, responding to a question by PTI.
He acknowledged that both developed and developing countries were learning how to deal with the situation when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. The prolonged closure of schools resulted in extreme learning losses, impacting not only India but countries across the globe. Banga stressed the need to address these learning losses and viewed it as a global issue.
Banga emphasised the importance of learning from the current situation and implementing measures to mitigate the impact before the next pandemic occurs.
He underscored the inevitability of another pandemic and the urgency of devising mechanisms to prevent repeating the same mistakes. According to Banga, the key issue is not if another pandemic will occur but rather how long it will take for the next one to emerge.
"My view is that we must learn now. We have to fix what we have got, pretty much make sure we learn before the next pandemic, devise a mechanism...or we will make the same mistakes again. The next one (pandemic) will come fore sure. It is a question of how long before it does come? To me that is the bigger issue," Banga added.
Earlier, the World Bank had estimated that the prolonged closure of schools in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic could result in a loss of over $400 billion in the country's future earnings, alongside substantial learning losses.
Ajay Banga also highlighted the need for the involvement of private sector players in the renewable energy sector.
“The money we need for renewable energy resources is in a trillion dollars. We cannot pool such a huge amount with the government’s help. We need to involve the private sector,” said Banga.
Ajay Banga, an Indian-American, assumed the role of World Bank President last month, making history as the first person of colour to head either of the two global financial institutions, namely the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Banga is currently on his first visit to India after assuming his position and is attending the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Ahmedabad. During his visit, he also visited a skill centre in Dwarka and interacted with students.