The meeting took place on Tuesday on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings….reports Asian Lite News
Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman met IMF Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath in Washington D.C., during which she noted the monetary body’s concerns on key downside risks to the economy including financial sector stress, inflation and geo-political fragmentation as well as faltering growth in China.
The meeting took place on Tuesday on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings.
According to the Finance Ministry, Sitharaman congratulated Gopinath for accelerating India’s work on the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable along with the World Bank and reiterated New Delhi’s commitment to foster efforts to address growing debt vulnerabilities.
Sitharaman also acknowledged IMF’s support to India’s G20 Presidency in the form of inputs towards developing evidence-based policy guidance.
Meanwhile, the top IMF official congratulated the Union Minister on the “fruitful discussions that translated the February consensus on the need for a globally coordinated policy response on crypto assets into an agreed set of guiding principles and an action plan on crypto assets”, said the Ministry.
Taking to Twitter following the meeting, Gopinath said: “Had a very good discussion with Finance Minister Sitharaman at the IMF-World Bank spring meetings, to discuss the progress being made under India’s G20 Presidency on debt issues and crypto related challenges.”
Investing in the India Decade
Sitharaman has reiterated that the India is committed to pursuing the reform agenda for building a stronger and more dynamic country, to provide plenty of opportunities for collaboration and investments.
Participating in a roundtable meeting on “Investing in the India Decade” organised by industry body FICCI and US India Strategic Partnership Forum in Washington D.C. on the sidelines of Spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank, Sitharaman on Tuesday underlined the reality of a global acknowledgement of a “New India” and the renewed role India is poised to play in global economic order, besides India as an investment destination.
She highlighted that India is adapting at twice the rate at which technology and digitisation tools are being adopted by people around the world, effectively making their life far more easier.
The Finance Minister also informed the roundtable participants that local languages are onboarded in the digitisation drive, as most of the Constitutional languages now have access to India’s digital public infrastructure platform, increasing reach, creating impact and exploring potential.
Sitharaman further emphasised that despite the reality of reset across the globe and the challenges posed by Coronavirus pandemic, Indiaas reform momentum remains unabated.
She also elaborated on a host of structural and governance reforms that the Centre has laid down through the Union Budget 2023-24.
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FM meets Yellen, discusses financial ties
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday met with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on the sidelines of the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings 2023 in Washington.
The two leaders discussed strengthening the India-US economic and financial partnership and increasing engagements at bilateral and multilateral forums. “Union Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman met with the United States Treasury Secretary Ms.@SecYellen on the sidelines of the @WorldBank and IMF #SpringMeetings 2023, in Washington D.C., today,” tweeted the Ministry of Finance.
Taking the discussions ahead from their last meeting in November 22 during the Economic Financial Dialogue (EFD), in India, the two leaders discussed strengthening the India-US economic and financial partnership and increasing engagements at bilateral and multilateral forums.
“Wide-ranging conversation between Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on deepening bilateral economic partnership and engagement in multilateral fora,” tweeted Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Indian Ambassador to the US.
Sitharaman, who is leading a high-powered delegation, appreciated the multi-faceted India-US partnership and called for further cooperation in addressing global economic challenges, including climate change. She also highlighted the role of G20, Quad, and IPEF in fostering this partnership.
“FM Smt. @nsitharaman appreciated the multi-faceted India-US partnership and called for further cooperation in addressing global economic challenges, including #ClimateChange. FM highlighted the role of #G20, QUAD and IPEF in fostering this partnership,” tweeted the Ministry of Finance.
Sitharaman also emphasised the importance of coordinated global action to address debt vulnerability in low and middle-income countries, besides the need for financial support to help developing economies achieve their climate goals.
Yellen applauded India for focusing on advancing the evolution of the multilateral development bank during its G-20 presidency. She said the US was looking forward to continuing its close cooperation with India to help make India’s G20 presidency a success.
“I want to commend your presidency for its focus on advancing the evolution of the multilateral development banks. As you know, this initiative is a priority of mine and will be a major focus of our conversations this week,” she said.
Yellen said the G-20 can bring strong political momentum to bear to make sure that the multilateral development banks accelerate their work on 21st-century global challenges as part of their effort to end extreme poverty and expand shared prosperity.
She also said that having the right leadership at the World Bank is critical in furthering the progress that they have made.
The Finance Minister also met with the United States Ex-Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and discussed about the Digital Public Infrastructure, providing accessibility for all, including StartUps, besides supporting the growth of fintech.
“FM Smt. @nsitharaman informed Ms. @PennyPritzker that scaling up of #DigitalInfrastructure and adoption of tech by common people in India has been phenomenal in the last couple of years,” tweeted the Ministry of Finance.
Sitharaman also highlighted that in the space of manufacturing, India has the right kind of skills, including manpower and language proficiency along with a huge domestic market which provides a significant scaling advantage to the private sector.
“In reference to the Union Budget 2023-24, FM Smt.@nsitharaman informed Ms. @PennyPritzker that India has announced setting up of 3 Centres of Excellence in the area of #ArtificialIntelligence as it is a key focus for the Government,” added the tweet. (ANI)
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