Announcement of Consortium Communique on Aid to India on May 26, 1964

INTERNAT10NAL Bl\Nr< FOR • RECONSTRUCTICH\J l~.!\!i) !)E\/ELOPMEf\JT I 1818 H STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON D. C. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 64/7 Bank Press Release No. 64/20 IDA Press Release No~ 64/7 Subject: Consortium Communique Tuesday, May 26, 1964 on Aid to India The Consortium of governments and institutions interested in develop- ment assistance to Indi,3, held its tenth meeting in Washington on May 26, 196h, under the chairman.ship of the World Bank. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Governments of Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands., the United Kingdom and the United States and by representatives of the World Bank and the International Develop- • ment Association (IDA) • The International Monetary.Fund sent an observer. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss aid for India during 1964/65, the fourth year of Ind.iat s Third Five-Year Plan. The Consortium had held p:-el:i.minary discussions on the same subject in Paris on March 17 and 18. At the beginning of the Third Plan the Government of India assessed the total requirement of external assistance from all sources, including non- Consortimn countries and private foreign investment, at $5,460 million0 Against this, the members of the Consortium have already pledged $J,L!17 m:tllion of aid to India for the first three years of. the Third Plan. At the meeting just concluded, they undertook to make additional aid availab::!..e for commitment during the fourth year of the Plan in the amount of about $1,028 million, subject as appropriate to legislative action or other necessary authorisation. The new pledges for 1964/65 are as follows: •  - 2 - Countries Austria 1. Pledges, by Co'lmtries U.S.$ million equivalent l • Canada 41 France 20 Germany 95 Italy 36 Japan 6o Netherlands 11 United Kingdom · 84 United States 435 World Bank and IDA 245 Total 1,028 Members of the Consortium considered it important that a substantial pa.rt of the aid to be extended to India during the coming year should be in the form of non-project aid which could be used to finance imports required • for the maintenance of the Indian economy. Apprqximately half of the aid pledged at the meeting is expected to be in this form. The follom.ng table sets out the aid pledges made by members of the Consortium in each of the first four years of India's Third It,ive-Year Plan: ci million eguivalent) 4-Year 12(:>1/62 1962/63 1963/64 1964/65 Tote.l Austria 5 7 1 13 Belgium 10 10 20 Canada 28 33 3~ 41 132t, France 15 45 20 20 100 Germany 225 139 99i 95_ 55~ Italy 53 45 36 134 Japan 50 55 65 tO 230 Netherlands 11 11 11 33 United Kingdom 182 84 84 84 434 United States 545 435 435 435 1,850 World Bank and IDA 250 200 245 245 940 - Total 1,295 1,070 1,052 It was agreed that the Consortium should meet again early in 1965. 1,028 4,445 •