WB to give $100 bn loan to developing countries

The World Bank has said it will give a loan of $100 billion this year to developing nations and India can draw an additional $3 billion annually for three years.

Disclosing this, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters here that "some concrete response has come and we told them they need to go further".

The World Bank has already committed $3 billion to India this year.

Ahluwalia cited this as being the World Bank's response in the context of increasing the flow of resources to help developing countries by the Brettonwoods institutions.

The IMF, he said, has also offered extension of low-condition facility called the liquidity facility which can go up to five times. Should India decide to use the facility, it would be able to draw $300 million.

"It is an element of confidence in India. The World Bank assistance in areas like infrastructure projects is good to be used as contra-cyclical measures," Ahluwalia said.

On the impact of global downturn on the Indian economy's growth rate, he said it was quite clear that the economic crisis was having some impact. In fact, this year the growth rate is expected to be between 7 and 7.9 per cent against the rate of 9 per cent recorded in the last four years.