Vinod Thomas is director general, Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) at the World Bank Group. As the head of IEG, he is entrusted with the task of evaluating the Bank’s work at a time when the Bank is going through very challenging times, which include a change at the helm—Robert Zoellick being appointed the new president. During a recent visit to India, Thomas spoke to Mint on some of these issues and also dwelled on some of the challenges facing India’s rapidly transforming economy. Edited excerpts:
Focusing on challenges: Vinod Thomas, director general of the Independent Evaluation Group at the World Bank Group.
The dramatic changes at the World Bank Group are really twofold. On the external side, the greater liquidity that the capital markets are providing to developing countries has meant that the World Bank, while an important player, is in the aggregate a smaller player. You have more than $600 billion (Rs23.58 trillion) in private capital, as compared to the Bank Group lending roughly $34 billion, which includes IFC (International Finance Corp.) and the MIGA (Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency). The value of the Bank more and more will be the combination of lending with knowledge and lessons of effective lending. So, externally, there is a change in the role of the Bank that obliges it to be far more agile, flexible, effective not only in the middle income countries (MIC), but covering countries across the spectrum.
Internally, as you also know, the Bank went through a difficult period recently which led to changes at the top. With a new leadership, the question of the Bank’s strategy going forward is attracting central attention. Among the various issues, governance and anti-corruption would be one; and, there will be focus on the internal work relating to the Bank’s own programmes, but equally on the work of the effectiveness of programmes in countries, which will always be relevant. No one ever says that corruption and governance are not important.
The question is how best to influence and how best to support it and who and when and how. And, there we have some interesting lessons.
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