Nirmala Sitharaman US visit: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman arrived in the US today (April 9) for a week-long official visit. Consul General of India in New York Randhir Jaiswal received Finance Minister Sitharaman at the airport.
Later today, Sitharaman will depart for Washington. During her stay, Sitharaman will be attending the 2023 Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), along with G20 meetings, Investor/ Bilateral meetings, and other associated meetings.The Spring Meetings will be attended by Finance Ministers and Central Bankers from across the world.
The Indian delegation will also comprise of officials from the Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Finance Minister Sitharaman and RBI Shaktikanta Das will jointly chair the 2nd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting during Wednesday-Thursday. Around 350 delegates from G20 members, 13 invitee countries, and various international and regional organisations will participate and engage in multilateral discussions.
List of events: | READ
2nd G20 FMCBG meeting:
The 2nd G20 FMCBG meeting will comprise of three sessions - global economy and international financial architecture; sustainable finance, financial sector and financial inclusion; and international taxation.
"The focus of these sessions will be to deliberate on issues such as addressing food & energy insecurity, managing global debt vulnerabilities, strengthening Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), mobilising finance for climate action, advancing financial inclusion, and accelerating progress on International Tax and Financial Sector issues. The meeting will take stock of the progress made on outcomes envisaged under India's G20 Finance Track agenda," an official release earlier said.
The 2nd G20 FMCBG meeting will advance efforts towards the preparation of G20 India Finance Track deliverables for the 3rd G20 FMCBG meeting to be held in Gandhinagar, India, in July 2023. These meetings are expected to provide informed Finance Track contributions to the Leaders Declaration set for adoption in the New Delhi Summit in September 2023.
Bilateral engagements:
On the sidelines of the Spring Annual Meetings, the Finance Minister will have bilateral engagements with her respective counterparts from G20 countries and Heads of other delegations, including major international organisations, to discuss issues and areas of mutual interest and cooperation under India's G20 Presidency.
In a high-level meeting on Tuesday (April 11), the Finance Minister will meet the US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to discuss issues of mutual interest. Further, a meeting of the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable will be co-chaired by India, International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank on April 12, 2023, to discuss the current global debt landscape and ways to address existing challenges in debt restructuring.
"On April 14, 2023, a high-level seminar on "Macro-financial implications of Crypto assets" will be held to review the macro-financial implications of Crypto Assets and discuss policies to leverage benefits and contain risks. Smt. Sitharaman will also meet the G20 Expert Group on strengthening MDBs on April 15, 2023, to discuss the need for an updated MDBs ecosystem for the 21st century towards financing sustainable development goals and transboundary challenges," the release said.
(With ANI inputs)
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