'Cryptocurrencies important part of discussion under G20 presidency'

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that cryptocurrencies are a very important part of the discussion under India's G20 presidency.

"Given so many collapses and shocks in cryptocurrencies. We seek to develop a common framework for all countries to deal with this matter," she said in Washington while participating in a roundtable meeting on the theme 'Investment opportunities for the long term: India on the Rise' with business leaders and investors.

It was hosted by industry body CII, US India Business Council and US Chamber.

The roundtable was attended by a diverse set of investors, including senior executives, private sector business leaders, venture capitalists, institutional investors, and representatives of pension and endowment funds.

Sitharaman apprised the group of the journey of India's conscious policy choices and structural and governance reforms that laid the foundation for the Indian economy to support growth at its full potential.

"Free trade agreements are being signed in a much faster way nowadays. We've just concluded one with Australia. Earlier we concluded with UAE, Mauritius and with ASEAN. We have extended the quota-free and tariff-free regime to least developed countries," she said.

The finance minister also highlighted India's robust digital public infrastructure such as Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and Account Aggregator platform, which have enabled small entrepreneurs to access credit and other digital services.

In a world full of post-pandemic challenges, she said that India offers policy certainty, skilled manpower, high digital tech adaption rate resulting in a host of opportunities for investment.

Sitharaman exhorted the participants to become part of India's exciting transformational journey towards greater prosperity, better standards of living for its citizens and higher returns for investors.