World Bank needs to reinvent: N K Singh – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The World Bank needs to reinvent and restructure itself to become ‘better, bolder and bigger’ and harness private capital on the strength of its own balance sheet, said N K Singh, co-convenor, expert group on MDB (multilateral development banks) Reforms.
The World Bank should also look at the possibility of tapping pension funds to increase its capital base and its capacity to fund development projects in developing nations.”Bretton Woods was the first one, it certainly needs to be reinvented, restructured and recreated. But there is no substitute for multilateral cooperation. and that’s why better, bolder and bigger,” Singh said at a panel discussion at the Raisina Dialogue, 2024.
A high-level expert group, led by N K Singh and former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, was set up by the G20 under India’s presidency. In its report, the group had proposed a 30-point roadmap to reform MDBs and triple their lending by 2030, which includes attracting private investors and introducing pooled portfolio guarantees. Currently, there are 17 MDBs, including ADB, African Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Inter-American Development Bank. Bretton Woods institutions, including the World Bank and IMF, were set up for funding reconstruction activities after WWII.