Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that climate financing, and strengthening development banks to help poorer nations were among the top agendas discussed in the first Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Bengaluru.

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"We have voiced the key concerns of the developing countries," she said.

She further informed that participating ministers and governors reiterated the need for structural policies to promote macro stability and maintain growth momentum. As per Sitharaman, PM Modi has urged the participants to bring back stability and growth to the global economy.

The G20 Chair thus confirmed a CNBC-TV18 newsbreak where it was reported that the climate crisis, global stress in the form of the war in Ukraine, inflation and decoding the crypto market were among the top agendas.

The Finance Minister said solutions for debt-distressed countries have already been in the works. This issue was also discussed in the meeting held. This is going to benefit four countries — Zambia, Ethiopia, Ghana and Sri Lanka.

Sitharaman said that India's proposal of an expert group on Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) was supported by all countries. The MDB expert group will submit its report within three months.

"The purpose of MDBs is to facilitate financing and provide advisory services for developing countries. Multilateral development banks are also referred to as an international financial institutions."

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Strong condemnation of Ukraine war, urgency in addressing debt vulnerabilities on G20 Finance Ministers agenda

Cryptocurrencies

On the contentious issue of cryptocurrencies, Sitharaman reiterated her stand on the ban on cryptocurrencies but said "multiple views exist as of now." RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das added that it is too early to say what the final architecture of cryptos would look like.

"There will be a paper between the Financial Stability Board and IMF that will be released later this year which will form the basis for the formation of crypto architecture for countries," Das added.

"There is almost a clear understanding that anything (issued) outside of the central bank is not currency," FM Sitharaman said. She also thanked the US and the UK for being supportive of the global consensus framework on cryptocurrency.

To foster a better understanding of the broader implications of crypto assets, a Seminar on global cryptocurrency was held at the G20 event.

No communique on Russia-Ukraine War

Sitharaman said that all 20 members could not have a communique on the ongoing war because Russia and China had a reservation about the wording. "Bali paragraph was introduced in the final statement, but Russia and China had a reservation, and hence it had to be a Chair summary, and not a communique."

As per the information, Russia and China did not want paragraphs 3 and 4 of the statement to be in the communique.

Shaktikanta Das

Shaktikanta Das said that the central bank organised four side events on cyber security, cross-border payment system, financial inclusion and MSME credit.

Governor Das also hailed the linkage of India's UPI and Singapore's PayNow.

"The linkage between UPI and PayNow came at the most appropriate time and attracted a lot of attention. The gallery of various stalls including UPI and CBDC (Centra Bank Digital Currencies) attracted a lot of attention."

Russia and China gives a miss

Sitharaman informed that over 500 foreign delegates consisting mostly of Foreign Ministers, Central Bank Governors and heads of various international organisations participated in the event.

Only four countries — China, Russia, Mexico and Turkey did not have finance ministers and governors present at the event. On the other hand, India invited its friendly countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Senegal, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman and Mauritius as guest countries.

Also Read:Breakfast of heavyweights at G20 — Shaktikanta Das, Jerome Powell and other central bank governors get in a huddle

(Edited by : Abhishek Jha)

First Published:Feb 25, 2023 7:10 PM IST