Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman participated as India's Governor of the World Bank in the 114th Meeting of the Development Committee Plenary in Bangkok, Thailand on October 15, 2026. The meeting's agenda focused on "Private Capital Mobilisation and Jobs," with Sitharaman delivering India's official intervention on the topic.
In her speech, Sitharaman emphasized that productive and better-paid jobs represent the most effective pathway to poverty reduction and shared prosperity, particularly amid current challenges including growing energy market stress, trade fragmentation, climate pressures, and rapid technological change. She outlined six key points in India's position.
First, she stressed that jobs require ecosystems rather than isolated interventions, noting that sustainable job creation requires high-quality and inclusive economic growth supported by macroeconomic stability, efficient infrastructure, simple regulations, and broad-based access to finance and skills. She highlighted India's experience showing that last-mile connectivity to energy and job markets, large-scale physical and digital public infrastructure, financial inclusion, and regulatory trust in market forces are critical for improved productivity and job creation at scale.
Second, Sitharaman asserted that the private sector must remain at the center of the development agenda, with most jobs created by private enterprises including MSMEs and startups. She emphasized that success should be measured by outcomes—jobs created and productivity increases—rather than merely the volume of financing mobilized. She called for stronger collaboration among IBRD, IFC, and MIGA, and faster operationalization of the WBG Guarantee Platform, noting that developing economies face constraints from shortage of risk capital and that guarantees and risk mitigation instruments are among the most effective tools to accelerate risk-capital formation and crowd in private capital.
Third, she emphasized that competitive financing must remain a core priority for the World Bank, which should continue as a development partner through competitive pricing, local currency financing tools, stronger guarantee products, and lower transaction costs. She stated that affordable, predictable, and accessible financing must remain at the core of the Middle-Income strategy.
Fourth, Sitharaman highlighted that the World Bank's Knowledge Bank function must help address market failures in critical areas including urbanization, tourism, agricultural exports, and critical minerals. She specifically noted that developing countries could benefit greatly from AI-driven boosts to state capacity, which deserves greater attention in the Bank's operational and knowledge agenda.
Fifth, she reiterated India's longstanding concerns regarding Worldwide Governance Indicators and similar composite assessments, calling for a comprehensive review and revision of existing methodologies to ensure they are transparent, objective, evidence-based, and better aligned with current realities and diverse development experiences of member countries. She emphasized this is essential for preserving the integrity of the Bank's knowledge products.
Finally, Sitharaman stated that evolution must strengthen voice and development impact, with the ultimate measure of success being whether reforms help countries create jobs, raise productivity, reduce poverty, and improve living standards. She reiterated the importance of strengthening the voice and representation of developing countries in the Bank's governance architecture and expressed India's constituency's readiness to work with fellow shareholders, management, and development partners to advance these objectives.