Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said that India is likely to grow between 7.2 per cent and 7.7 per cent in the new financial year 2017-18.

He said this based on the estimates of the International Monetary Fund.

Addressing the second annual meeting of the New Development Bank (NDB), he noted that though emerging markets and developing economies show better growth prospects, they also face newer challenges.

“Most notably a possible shift towards inward-looking policy platforms and protectionism, a sharper than expected tightening in global financial conditions that could interact with balance sheet weaknesses in parts of the euro area and increased geopolitical tensions, including unpredictable economic policy of USA,” he said.

But he stated that amid such challenges also lie new opportunities in terms of better infrastructure financing in emerging economies.

“The estimated unmet demand for infrastructure investment in EMDEs is gargantuan, estimated at above $ 1 trillion a year by the World Bank,” he said, adding that the established multilateral development banks are now capital constrained and the NDB or BRICS Bank can now step in to bridge this deficit.

Expressing hope that the NDB will emerge as a development bank that looks into the requirements of developing countries, Jaitley further said India has sought $2-billion loans for various projects from the NDB.

“India has huge unmet infrastructure funding needs. $646 billion is required in next five years (for financing infrastructure),” Jaitley said.

India will work with the NDB to develop a strong shelf of projects in specific areas such as smart cities, renewable energy, urban transport, including metro railways, clean coal technology, solid waste management and urban water supply.

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