India's growth rate can push its poverty elevation efforts: World Bank President Ajay Banga

Banga, who is the Indian-origin chief of the World Bank, said economic growth and job creation can resolve India’s unemployment issues.

"The best way to drive a nail in the coffin of poverty is growth," he told NDTV on the NITI Aayog report that said the multidimensional poverty rate in India fell from 24.85 percent in 2015-16 to 14.96 percent in 2019-2021.

The four-decade-old fight against poverty across the globe took a setback due to the COVID-19 pandemic and high-interest rates, he said, adding that India has an advantage in this scenario due to the country's economic growth.

"India has had an advantage over this (poverty) because your economy has been growing, you had a year or two of challenges during the pandemic, and you've come out of it relatively strong. If you can maintain this momentum, the best way to tackle poverty is growth in jobs. The best way to drive a nail in the coffin of poverty is growth," he was quoted as saying.

"I'm more optimistic about today than I was in the past few years, considering all the investment in digital and physical infrastructure. India is focused on growth and that makes me optimistic," said Banga on the Indian economy's outlook.

During his visit to India, Banga participated in the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

He visited a Skill India Mission centre located in Dwarka, Delhi where he witnessed the initiatives and efforts undertaken by India in promoting skill development and enhancing the capabilities of its workforce under the scheme.

"The government of India got the idea for skilling in a conversation with the World Bank during the PM's first tenure, and since then the government got hooked to it," Banga said, referring to the first term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The global economy has proven resilient; everybody has been proven wrong. Forecasts are not destiny," said Banga.

Expressing his opinion on what makes him optimistic about India’s growth story, he told NDTV that India is doing a lot of things that allowed it to stay ahead.

“India has had a great growth year. If there's a global slowdown, one thing that India has grown is the very high percentage of its GDP (gross domestic product) that comes from domestic consumption. Your exposure to the typical impact of a global slowdown caused by slowing trade is cushioned by the relatively high percentage of the economy that comes from domestic consumption," he was further quoted as saying.