Unresolved bottlenecks has slowed growth in middle income countries like India, Brazil, Russia and Turkey, World Bank President Jim Young Kim said while insisting that growth has to translate into poverty reduction and job creation and must be inclusive to curb inequality.

"Growth in several major middle income countries including Brazil, India, Russia, and Turkey has slowed in part because of unresolved bottlenecks in these economies," Kim told reporters yesterday at the World Bank headquarters here.

Kim said more than four years after the start of the financial crisis, high income countries continue to struggle with high unemployment, weak growth, and economic fragility.

"The good news is that, taken as a whole, Developing Countries are doing relatively well, with growth expected to reach about 5.5 per cent this year. This should strengthen to just under 6 per cent by 2015. Indeed, Developing Countries are accounting for more than half of global growth," he said.

Recovery in the developing world, he said has been elusive.

"This diversity of experience among Developing Countries means that there is no one size fits all prescription for policy, and external developments can no longer be seen as the principal source of problems. Now more than ever, solutions need to be found in domestic macroeconomic and structural policies that address distinct conditions in individual countries," he said.

Kim emphasized on his three point agenda to remove poverty, "First, the high growth rate in the developing world over the past 15 years must accelerate. Second, growth has to translate into poverty reduction and job creation and it must be inclusive to curb inequality. And, third, we must avert or mitigate potential shocks such as climate disasters or new food, fuel, and financial crises," he said.

In his interaction with journalists on the sidelines of the annual Spring meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Kim stressed on the need of addressing the issue of climate change.

"We must also address climate change with the plan that matches the scope of the problem. Climate change is not just an environmental challenge. It is a fundamental threat to economic development. Unless the world takes bold action now, a disastrously warming planet threatens to put prosperity out of reach of millions and roll back decades of development and poverty reduction," Kim said.

"At the World Bank Group, we are stepping up our mitigation, adaptation, and disaster risk management work. Some 130 countries have asked the World Bank for assistance in climate related work," Kim said.

PTI