Bangalore (Karnataka) [India]Feb 25 (ANI): Highlighting the unsustainable debt levels affecting the viability of many countries and the erosion of confidence in international financial institutions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged the world’s major economies and monetary systems to bring back stability, confidence urged. and growth for the global economy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed the first meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors under India’s G20 chairmanship via video message.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister underlined that this is the first ministerial-level dialogue under India’s G20 chairmanship and conveyed his best wishes for a productive meeting.
Noting the challenges facing the world today, PM Modi said that the participants of today’s meeting represent the leadership of global finance and economy at a time when the world is facing severe economic difficulties Is.
The Prime Minister highlighted the COVID pandemic and its subsequent effects on the global economy, rising geopolitical tensions, disruption of global supply chains, rising prices, food and energy security, unsustainable debt levels affecting the viability of many countries, and rapid international financial institutions Erosion of trust due to their inability to improve.
PM Modi said that it is now up to the custodians of the world’s major economies and monetary systems to bring back stability, confidence and growth in the global economy.
Highlighting the vibrancy of the Indian economy, the Prime Minister highlighted the optimism of Indian consumers and producers about the future of India’s economy and hoped that member participants would be inspired to spread the same positive spirit globally.
The Prime Minister urged the members to focus their discussion on the world’s most vulnerable citizens and emphasized that global economic leadership can win back the trust of the world only by forging an inclusive agenda.
PM Modi said, “The theme of our G20 Presidency promotes this inclusive vision – One Earth, One Family, One Future.”
The Prime Minister observed that progress on the Sustainable Development Goals is slowing even as the world population has crossed 8 billion. He stressed the need to strengthen multilateral development banks to face global challenges such as climate change and high debt levels.
Highlighting the growing dominance of technology in the world of finance, PM Modi recalled how digital payments enabled contactless and seamless transactions during the pandemic.
He urged the member participants to explore and harness the power of technology while developing standards to control the potential risk of volatility and abuse in digital finance.
He said that India has built a highly secure, highly reliable and highly efficient public digital infrastructure in its digital payments ecosystem over the years.
“Our digital payments ecosystem has been developed as a free public good,” the Prime Minister said, underlining that it has fundamentally changed governance, financial inclusion and ease of living in the country.
Noting that the meeting is taking place in India’s technology capital Bengaluru, PM Modi said that the participants can experience how Indian consumers have adopted digital payments. He also spoke about the new system created during India’s G-20 Presidency that allows G20 guests to use India’s path-breaking digital payments platform, UPI.
“Examples like UPI can be a template for many other countries as well. We will be happy to share our experience with the world and G20 can be a vehicle for this”, said the Prime Minister.
With an aim to boost global economic cooperation, the first G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting is being held in Bengaluru on Friday.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das jointly chaired the meeting.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday inaugurated the first G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting while expressing her heartfelt condolences to Turkish colleagues, urging people to observe a minute’s silence for the loss.
In his address, the Finance Minister said that in 2023 the G20 will focus on a holistic approach to global challenges based on the Presidency theme of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – One Earth One Family One Future’.
He said that by leveraging strengths while respecting needs and circumstances, the G20 can transform lives around the world.
“It can be a global prime mover as an incubator of ideas, a force for collective good and a platform for the voices of the Global South to be heard. Supporting countries most in need and addressing the concerns and aspirations of developing countries Reflecting this will be the focus of our efforts,” Sitharaman said.
“We will work closely with the Troika, the G20 membership and international organizations to take forward the exemplary G20 Presidency before us. We will start this special pre-recorded address for all of you by our Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi-ji,” said the minister.
Nirmala Sitharaman sought views from ministers and governors on how multilateral development banks can be strengthened to address the common global challenges of the 21st century, with a focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and poverty alleviation.
The Finance Minister highlighted the growing debt vulnerability in many vulnerable countries and sought views of G20 members on multilateral coordination, adding that managing global debt vulnerability will be critical to the world economy. Sitharaman also talked about India’s G20 priority of financing cities of tomorrow and sought to explore the G20 FMCBG’s views on domestic policy experiences with respect to financing the inclusive, resilient and sustainable cities of tomorrow.
During her speech, the Finance Minister also invited views of the G20 FMCBG on policy initiatives that could be helpful on ways to enable financing for the SDGs and to mobilize timely and adequate resources for climate finance.
The Finance Minister also met Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, on the sidelines of the first G20 FMCBG under the G20 India Presidency in Bengaluru on Friday.
During their meeting, Bruno Le Maire thanked FM Sitharaman for the recently concluded Tata-Airbus historic deal. The two leaders also agreed to expand the growing economic cooperation between the two countries in new areas such as renewable energy, infrastructure and green cities. The ongoing problems due to debt vulnerabilities of several countries also came up for discussion between the two leaders.
Speaking at the first meeting of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG), the French minister said, “We will oppose any move by the leaders of Bali (G20) on this question of war on Ukraine. We are very confident of India’s strong release and we are very happy to see India in the driving seat today.
The minister said that France shares the views of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “This should not be an era of war. Beyond human destruction, what is at stake in the war in Ukraine is our sovereignty and the core principles of the international order,” he said.
The minister also said that what is at stake is the strength of growth and prosperity for the long term.
“One thing must be certain that there cannot be sustainable and strong economic growth in times of war. In this sense, the war in Ukraine is not a regional conflict but is affecting globally.
It is affecting not only Ukraine and European countries but all the countries of the world.
During the G20 meeting, the minister said, “European countries reaffirmed our unity and absolute determination to adopt new sanctions against Russia. Our sanctions are strong and efficient. They are killing and reducing all the revenue of Russia. They’re freezing $58 billion in Russian assets.
On the sidelines of the G20 meeting, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das met Jerome H. Powell, Chairman of the Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System, in Bengaluru and exchanged views. Shaktikanta Das also met Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank on Friday. (ANI)
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