Private sector capital must complement the efforts of governments and multilateral institutions in pursuit of sustained financing needed for sustainable development goals (SDGs), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday.
Addressing the CII Roundtable in Morocco on “Reviving Growth with Inclusivity: Galvanising Private Capital to support Governments, and Multilateral Institutions”, Sitharaman said that private sector capital can go a long way in advancing the SDGs.
Official sources of finance from the MDBs and other development finance institutions (DFIs) can help reduce the real and perceived risks associated with projects in emerging markets and developing economies, she added.
In this endeavour, the Finance Minister noted that philanthropic capital can also play a similar role in absorbing risks and lowering costs thereby helping to mobilise private capital.
“In 2023, we have focused on social related SDGs such as health, education, poverty reduction, clean water and sanitation and mapped them against financial instruments like social impact bonds, SDG linked bonds. We have developed recommendations which aim to mobilise private financing for SDGs through greater adoption of these instruments and bonds,” Sitharaman further said.
Working towards the advancement of SDGs is a global public good. The financing requirements are immense which calls for a global collaborative effort across stakeholders.
Efforts and concrete financing commitments of all — official governments, multi-lateral institutions, development finance institutions and most importantly private sector — is paramount and these will have to complement each other for this shared global priority, she added further.
“In financing the SDGs, private capital will do well to make sure that such investments are sustainable for countries too and that means, reconciliation of their commercial goals with the creation of public goods. The pursuit of SDG will have to be a sustainable endeavour in itself,” Sitharaman said.
