World Bank president Ajay Banga optimistic about India's economy

Ajay Banga, the President of the World Bank, expressed his optimism about India and its economy. Banga said that he is more positive about India now than he has been in a long time.

During the third G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting, Banga, the first-ever Indian-American to lead the prestigious global financial institution, commended India for its remarkable digital infrastructure initiatives.

"I am more optimistic about India, as a whole, economically, than I have been for a long time," said Banga, acknowledging the challenging state of the global economy. Despite surpassing expectations, he warned that the world economy is expected to face increasing challenges in the coming year, as projected by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

India's GDP growth exceeded all expectations, with a 6.1% expansion in the last quarter of the previous fiscal year, according to government data released in May 2023. This robust performance contributed to an annual growth rate of 7.2% in FY23.

Ajay Banga also pointed out that the digitization of infrastructure has enabled the creation of innovative applications that offer easy online access to various services.

India's progress in digitization extends beyond lending, with the nation focusing on building a comprehensive digital infrastructure over the past two decades.