Nirmala Sitharaman Arrives In US For World Bank-IMF Spring Meet, To Chair G20 Meeting

Sitharaman will participate in meetings with finance ministers and central bankers from around the world, with the first meeting scheduled to take place at the IMF Headquarters in Washington.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman arrived in Washington on Sunday to attend the 2023 Spring Meetings

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman arrived in Washington on Sunday to attend the 2023 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund, as well as other G20 meetings.

She was received by Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu. Sitharaman is on a week-long visit to the US.

Sitharaman will participate in meetings with finance ministers and central bankers from around the world, with the first meeting scheduled to take place at the IMF Headquarters in Washington. She will also co-chair the 2nd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting on April 12 with Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das.

The meeting will be attended by approximately 350 delegates from G20 members, 13 invitee countries, and various international and regional organizations. They will engage in multilateral discussions on a range of pressing global issues, including addressing food and energy insecurity, managing global debt vulnerabilities, strengthening Multilateral Development Banks, mobilising finance for climate action, and accelerating progress on International Tax and Financial Sector issues.

The Finance Ministry said the meeting will take stock of the progress made on outcomes envisaged under India’s G20 Finance Track agenda.

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 at Gandhinagar in Gujarat in July this year.

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.

The 2nd G20 FMCBG meeting will be divided into three sessions, namely: global economy and international financial architecture, sustainable finance, financial sector, and financial inclusion, as well as 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.

On Tuesday, the Finance Minister will hold a high-level meeting with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to discuss topics of mutual interest.

In addition, India will co-chair the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on April 12, 2023. The focus of this meeting will be on 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 further stated.