REPORT ECHOES INDIA'S CALL FOR MDB REFORM, LAUDS SUCCESS IN FINANCIAL INCLUSION

Investment in India particularly in South Asia, remains strong with the country benefiting from growing interest from multinationals, which see the country as an alternative manufacturing base in the context of developed economies' supply chain diversification strategies, says a new UN report which identifies financing challenges as the heart of the world's sustainable development crisis with as staggering debt burdens and sky-high borrowing costs preventing developing countries from responding to the confluence of crises they face.

- NIVEDITA MUKHERJEE

Mirroring India's view, the 2024 Financing for Sustainable Development Report (FSDR 2024) underlines the need to start work on reforming the international financial architecture, which is dysfunctional, outdated and unfair. The report emphasises that the new architecture must represent the world of today, giving a proportionate voice to the countries of the Global South, respond to challenges including the climate crisis. The new system, says the report, must be sensitive to global shocks, boosting reserves and mitigating imbalances as needed.

It must catalyze flows of private finance into the green economy and incentivize investments in resilience and adaptation, imperitives that India has highlighted as the voice of the Global South.

The 2024 Financing for Sustainable Development Report: Financing for Development at a Crossroads (FSDR 2024) calls for urgent steps to mobilise financing at scale to close the development financing gap, now estimated at USD 4.2 trillion annually, up from USD 2.5 trillion before the COVID-19 pandemic.