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World Bank earmarks $1.52 bn for India

India got the lion's share of $ 1.52 billion in the World Bank's lending commitment of $ 2.01 billion for South Asia in fiscal 1997.

India was followed by Bangladesh with $ 321 million, Pakistan $ 84.8 million, Sri Lanka $ 57.8 million, and Nepal $ 18.3 million. No lending was provided to other South Asian nations -- Afghanistan, Bhutan, and the Maldives.

China, once again, is the top recipient of the World Bank's total lending of $19.1 billion in fiscal 1997. Beijing received $ 2.81 billion, followed by Russia with $1.71 billion. India came third, receiving $1.52 billion.

Besides China, Russia and India, the other countries in the list of the top 10 borrowers were Argentina $ 1.47 billion, Brazil $ 992.6 million, Ukraine $ 989.6 billion, Mexico $ 960 million, Indonesia $ 914.6 million, Romania $ 625 million, and Peru $ 569 million.

The overall World Bank lending, including that of the International Development Association, showed a downward trend. The Bank-IDA lent $21.4 billion in 1995, $2.5 billion more than in 1997.

Commenting on the fiscal 1997 results, World Bank Managing Director for Operations Gautam Kaji -- who is India-born -- said, ''I am very encouraged by the fact that our level of disbursements -- the money that is actually making a difference on the ground -- rose four per cent from last year."

Of the amount borrowed by India, a sum of $ 903 million came from the IDA. All the projects of Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal were founded through the concessional IDA facility.

The overall lending to South Asia has also been on the decline for the last couple of years. In fiscal 1997, the region received $ 2.01 billion for 19 projects as against $ 3.01 billion in 1996 for 22 projects and $ 3.25 billion for 19 projects in 1995.

Disbursement to the region increased sharply by more than $ 400 million, totalling $ 2.26 billion with $ 1.56 billion going to India, $ 644 million to Sri Lanka and $ 8.4 million to Nepal.

In comparison, disbursements for the previous year were $ 2.25 billion including India with $ 0.30 billion, Pakistan $ 521 million, Bangladesh $ 226.6 million, Sri Lanka $ 108.9 million, and Nepal $ 8.4 million.

UNI