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India against WB, IMF dealing directly with states: Sinha

The government has taken strong exception to international financial institutions like the World Bank dealing directly with state governments bypassing the central government in the matter of financing projects.

Addressing a press conference in Washington, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha said, ''I am quite candid about this and we will not encourage this practise,'' he asserted.

Sinha who was in Washington to attend the three-day 'spring meeting' of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, said, "We have conveyed our displeasure openly to these institutions and there is no need to be discreet about taking exception to such developments.

''Whenever we have noted such departure from accepted practices, we have brought it directly to the notice of the concerned institutions,'' said Sinha while replying to questions whether India has taken up the issue of financial institutions directly dealing with the states bypassing the centre.

It may be mentioned that the World Bank president James Wolfensohn had proudly announced at a recently held news conference, in the presence of Sinha, that the Bank is dealing directly with some states in India.

Andhra Pradesh ia probably the greatest beneficiary. While the state is getting massive assistance from the World Bank, it is not clear whether it had negotiated directly with the Bank for their projects or not.

UNI

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