G20: India And Italy To Be Co-Chairs Of Global Partnership For Financial Inclusion For 3 Years

Members of the GPFI met to discuss and agree on the next steps for important year-end deliverables like SME Finance and Digital Financial Inclusion.

A worker arranges flags of participating countries, put up for the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting. ( Image Source :PTI )

New Delhi: For a period of three years, beginning 2024, India and Italy will serve as co-chairs of the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI). This was decided at the second GPFI meeting, which ended on Wednesday. According to an official release, representatives from the finance ministries and central banks of G20 and non-G20 countries, as well as International Organisations, including GPFI Implementing Partners and Affiliated Partners, attended the two meetings.

The selection of the GPFI's new long-term Co-Chairs was also made public at the meeting. With support from the entire membership, the new GPFI Co-Chairs of India and Italy were announced. It stated that they have been selected for a term of three years, beginning in 2024.

The members of the GPFI met in the plenary to discuss and agree on the next steps for important year-end deliverables like SME Finance and Digital Financial Inclusion.

It also stated that a dedicated workshop was held to develop the GPFI Financial Inclusion Action Plan (FIAP) 2023, which will serve as a guide for the G20's financial inclusion work from 2024 to 2026.

Experts from India, as well as representatives from the Reserve Bank of India, the National Payments Corporation of India, the Unique Identification Authority of India, and the Ministry of Finance, discussed their experiences using digital payment indices to change the landscape of financial inclusion.

The symposium was a place where people could talk about their experiences and learn about how to build a solid payment system that will help increase financial inclusion, resilience, productivity, and inclusive growth. 

From March 4 to March 6, emerging economies of the Global South participated in a knowledge and experience exchange program that served as a prelude to the GPFI meeting.

According to the release, India, as chairman of the G20, is committed to expanding global financial inclusion and elevating the voices of emerging economies.

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