"The World Bank has agreed to sanction a loan of $944 million to India for strengthening rural finance system, vocational training programs and community-based water management projects."

Apparently, the WB lendings to India go up to almost $3 billion per year.

But is this something India really needs? People argue that it only complicates forex management for India because India does not need $ loans to finance local development activities. On the other hand, local Indian banks have always been skeptical of funding pro-poor programs, and the WB probably fills in the gap. What is more interesting is that the central government often lends money borrowed from the WB at higher rates of interest to local companies! Not sure if this really does any good to the Indian economy though. And apparently, the WB likes to lend to India because India is more creditworthy than Africa, and hence needed by the WB for its own survival.

To a suspicious mind, it all seems to be part of a big money generating scheme by the rich countries, in which the rest of the world is pulled into out of no choice of their own. And ironically, it is termed as pursuing a "liberal" agenda out of respect for individual freedom! How words and meanings get contorted over the years...