On April 20, 2020 Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman attended the 5th Annual Meeting of Board of Governors of New Development Bank (NDB) through video-conference in New Delhi.
Nirmala Sitharaman’s discussion in the meeting
i.Commended the NDB’s efforts to establish itself as a credible Global Financial Institution & successfully delivered its mandate by adopting a sustainable and inclusive approach.
ii.Appreciated NDB’s effort to provide financial assistance of about USD 5 billion to Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) countries including  USD 1 billion to India as a emergency Assistance to combat COVID-19 pandemic & suggested that the assistance to be enhanced to USD 10 billion..
iii.Encouraged NDB to take appropriate actions to join the G-20 forum along with other Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) / International Financial Institutions (IFIs) & urged it to support the BRICS nations to achieve their Sustainable Development Goals by following its innovative practices.
iv.About various measures taken in India
- Allocation of about USD 2 Billion (Rs 15,000 crore) to strengthen the healthcare system, announcement of a scheme of social support measures amounting to $25 Billion to alleviate the hardship of the poor and the vulnerable.
- Insurance cover of USD 67,000 (Rs 50 lakh) per person to over 2.2 million frontline health workers,provision of relief to firms in statutory and regulatory compliance matters & RBI ease the monetary policy.
Key Points
i.So far NDB has approved 14 projects in India for an amount of USD 4,183 million.
ii.The Finance Minister of Brazil thanked India for the timely help it received from India in the form of critical drugs.
About NDB:
It was established by BRICS countries at its 6th summit in (Fortaleza, Brazil) 2014, to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging market economies & in developing countries.
President– K V Kamath
Headquarters– Shanghai, China
