ADB shows serious concern over corruption issue

Taking a serious view about corruption, multilateral financing institution Asian Development Bank (ADB) today said fund flows to member countries in future might get influenced because of this.

"We are very concerned about corruption in any of our member countries and we take this into account in designing our projects," ADB Managing Director General Rajat Nag told reporters, when asked how the agency was viewing at several multi-crore scams unearthed in India.

Specifically for India, the ADB is reviewing the projects where it had given finance and are subject to audits by both ADB and the Indian government, he said.

"That process will continue," he noted.

Nag said ADB was making a yearly exposure of $2 billion to India, higher than $1.5 billion for China.

He said that 70-80% of ADB's assistance was towards the infrastructure sector.

Nag said corruption was an issue related to good governance and could also have a negative impact on FDI flows due to perception issues.

To a query, he said that portfolios in India were in good shape.

Referring to India's growth prospects, he said as per a study in progress conducted by ADB, the country would contribute to 12-13% of the world's GDP by 2050 in terms of purchasing power parity.

India, China and Japan would dominate the world economy after rebalancing of the world order, he said.