Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic has adversely impacted the nascent economic recovery process in India while maintaining that India will sail through the storm with focus of the government on robust public health measures, timely treatment of the infected persons, sound macro-economic management and strong macro fundamentals.

Speaking at the virtual 54th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank, Sitharaman said the country is currently going through the second wave of covid and the resurgence of the pandemic has caused sufferings for very large number of persons and put the healthcare system under huge strain. “We are thankful to the international community for their support in this hour of need. The vaccine production capacity in the country is being ramped up and more vaccine candidates are on verge of entering the commercial chain. We are confident that with expected adequate access to critical raw materials, we would not only be able to meet our domestic needs but also soon be back to meet critical vaccine needs of the world," she added.

Sitharaman said the world is facing an unprecedented global crisis with the world economy contracting last year, threatening a severe development setback and hindering progress of developing member countries (DMCs) towards achieving 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. “Poverty has been reduced over the years but in 2020, an estimated 78 million people were pushed back into extreme poverty, and inequality aggravated," Sitharaman said.

Sitharaman urged ADB to increase private sector financing with the debt burden on sovereigns rising. “Such financing would help leverage the capital of Bank much better. However, the overall non-sovereign lending of ADB came down substantially in 2020 and is projected to stay at sub-2019 level at least for another 6 years. The ADB’s Work Program 2021-23 projects reduction in non-sovereign commitments by $32 billion over 2020-35. While we welcome the Bank’s strategy to increase sector and geographical diversification in private sector lending, this rather calls for more and not less absolute lending. Here we would urge the Bank to open a Private Sector Operations Branch Office in Mumbai for more committed operational activities in the private sector," she added.