FM Nirmala Sitharaman to Attend G20 Meetings in Morocco
New Delhi: The finance ministry on Monday said that the fourth G20 finance ministers & central bank governors (G20 FMCBG) meeting would strengthen multilateral development banks or MDBs to address shared challenges of the 21st Century. Besides, the global economy and crypto assets would be top agenda in the upcoming meeting, which is scheduled to begin on Tuesday in Morocco. Having ironed out issues over language around the Russia-Ukraine war, another highlight of the final meeting of FMCBG could also be the first communiqué of this group under India’s presidency instead of a chair statement.
As per the finance ministry’s statement, the fourth meeting of FMCBG under India’s G20 presidency is all set to take off on October 12 and 13 at Marrakesh in Morocco with two key agenda items which will include the final volume of reforms for MDBs and the road map for crypto assets regulations. “Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will also participate in the FMCBG meeting under G20 Indian Presidency, besides investor and bilateral meetings with many countries and organisations,” it said.
Besides, she will attend the annual meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), along with G20 meetings, investor/bilateral meetings with Indonesia, Morocco, Brazil, Switzerland, Germany and France among others from October 11-15, 2023 in Morocco. “During the meeting, the volume 2 of the report on strengthening MDBs by the independent expert group (IEG) will also be released and volume 1 was released during the 3rd FMCBG held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat,” the statement said.
On the sidelines of the fourth G20 FMCBG meeting, it also said, the roundtable will discuss the progress made on debt restructuring and explore ways and means to support the work of G20 countries. “In a high-level event organised by the USA Treasury, the finance minister will engage in a roundtable discussion on “IMF policy priorities and how the institution should support its membership. She will also participate in a discussion on partnership for resilient and inclusive supply-chain enhancement (RISE) – with the WBG, organised by the G7 Japan Presidency,” the statement added.
On the margins of the IMF-WB annual meetings in Marrakech, it said, Sitharaman will participate in a discussion on macroeconomic outlook during a G7 Africa ministerial roundtable. “Sitharaman will also give a keynote address at a session on “MDBs evolution”, co-hosted by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and Center for Global Development (CGD),” it said.
In the course of her visit, the Union finance minister will also participate in a roundtable on “Reviving Growth with Inclusivity: Galvanising Private Capital to support Governments and Multilateral Institutions”. “In another high-level event on the sidelines, the finance minister will engage in a conversation with the Atlantic Council on India’s economic prospects through 2024 and beyond,” it said.