'Strengthening multilateral development banks primary focus of G20 India'

MUMBAI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that the primary focus of India's G20 Presidency has been to strengthen multilateral development banks (MDB) and to address their shared global development goals.

Speaking virtually at a seminar organised by the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India under G20 titled ‘Global Economy: Challenges, Opportunities & the Way Forward’, Sitharaman said that the MDBs are facing challenges on various fronts and are not fully equipped to handle the challenges.

"A primary focus on India's G-20 Presidency in 2023 has been to strengthen multilateral development banks, to address the shared challenges of the 21st Century,” she said.

“The crucial recommendation to handle these challenges for the MDB, that are to be discussed here are to tackle global challenges along with a core mission to poverty reduction and shared prosperity, to triple their sustainability lending by 2030 and to enhance financial strength and general capital increase,” she said.

She said that India stands committed to facilitating a secure and dynamic financial environment that benefits all nations and fosters inclusive growth, adding that a common agenda of G20 is to prepare for a better tomorrow.

Speaking on the geo-political environment, Sitharaman said geo-political differences do not supersede the core G20 mandate of international cooperation and finding solutions for existing and emerging situations.

"India assumed its Presidency of G-20 in these kind of circumstances. We have ensured that geo-political differences do not supersede the core G-20 mandate of International cooperation", she said in her address In her virtual address, the finance minister also touched upon the escalating debt among vulnerable countries the world over.

She said the finance track has seen the delivery of a sizeable number of outcomes, most of which will contribute to addressing the present and emerging global economic challenges.

India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1, 2022, and New Delhi is set to host the summit meeting next month.