G20 Summit: IMF Chairman Kristalina Georgieva arrives in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director and Chairman of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrived in the national capital on Thursday to attend the G20 Summit to be held on September 9-10.

Kristalina Georgieva was received with a rousing welcome at the New Delhi airport with a cultural dance performance.

A cultural team performed a traditional folk dance to welcome the IMF chief. She appreciated their dance and also tried some steps by herself. Recently, IMF has projected India to grow at 6.1 per cent this fiscal (April 2023-March 2024) despite global issues like climate change and the Russia-Ukraine war. The IMF in October last year praised India as a "bright spot in a dark horizon" due to the rapidly growing economy even in these difficult times. It has also stated that the country will leave a mark on the world for years to come during next year's presidency of G20.

Notably, India is the fastest-growing major economy in the world currently, despite the ongoing economic concerns globally. It saw a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 7.8 per cent in the first quarter (April-June) of 2023-24. China's economy grew by 6.3 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2023. "India deserves to be called a bright spot in this otherwise dark horizon because it has been a fast-growing economy, even during these difficult times, but most importantly, this growth is underpinned by structural reforms,” Kristalina Georgieva said. Georgieva had expressed hope for seeing more engagement under India's leadership in G20.

"India is the next chair of G20 and they are very committed to a strong quarter-based well-resourced IMF and we might see more engagement that comes under their leadership,” she said. Praising India's digital economy, Georgieva said that the remarkable success of digitisation in India is the digital ID that provides all services and support on the basis of "digital access." She further added that digitisation is a huge factor in India's success.

Talking about renewable energy, IMF's Managing Director said, "India has really leapfrogged in terms of solar and other forms of renewable energy. So I very much look forward to next year and I am sure that it would make the people of India, the whole nearly one point four billion of them very proud."