Jaitley to leave for Frankfurt tomorrow to attend ADB meet

New Delhi, May 3: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will tomorrow leave for an official visit to Frankfurt to attend the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

In his speech at the First Business Session of ADB, Jaitley would focus on performance of the Indian economy in global slowdown and also highlight micro and macroeconomic indicators of the economy.

Co-operation with ADB in development will also be on his agenda, the Finance Ministry said in a statement. Later, Jaitley will have a bilateral meeting with Hans-Joachim Fuchtel, Parliamentary State Secretary to German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Jaitley will also meet Lyonpo Namgay Dorji, Finance Minister of Bhutan, and discuss about economic assistance packages from India to Bhutan, progress of work of hydropower projects funded by India and sub-regional co-operation in the region.

He will also attend roundtable and bi-lateral meetings, including interaction with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation President and CEO Takeshi Kunibe.

In a debate on theme 'Asian Economic Outlook-2016' later, Jaitley will be joined by Indonesia Finance Minister Bambang PS Brodjonegoro, Pakistan Finance Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Regional Head for Greater China and ASEAN, Commerzbank AG, Agnes Vargas and ADB President Takehiko Nakao.

The 49th Annual General Meeting of ADB is being held from May 2-5 at Frankfurt, Germany. The Asian Development Outlook 2016 predicts softening in the region's growth rates to 5.7 per cent each in 2016 and 2017, from 5.9 per cent projected last year.

India continues to maintain a high growth rate with rising real incomes and domestic demand and is projected to grow at 7.6 per cent in 2015-16 compared with 7.2 per cent in the previous year despite a decline in exports and two consecutive years of unfavourable monsoons.

India is going to play a major role in the development of the region and in this context, role of India gets significant importance in the AGM where Jaitley will be representing India along with Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das. Jaitley will return to India on May 5.

PTI