The G-20 meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG), to be held in Gandhinagar, will look to have comprehensive discussions on the one matter on which consensus has eluded the members so far: the global economic impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“In the two previous meetings of FMCBG under India’s Presidency, there were many issues on which there was broad agreement. On the issue of the war, there have been differences. As the chair, our efforts will be to build consensus, and the issue will be discussed over the next five days,” Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth told reporters in Gandhinagar on Thursday.
The 3rd FMCBG meeting under India’s G20 Presidency will be held on July 17 and 18. It will be chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das. Before that, on July 14 and 15, the G20 Finance Track deputies will meet, chaired by Seth and RBI Deputy Governor Michael Patra.
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In the first two G-20 FMCBG meetings this year, held in Bengaluru and Washington DC respectively, the G-7 nations wanted to include in the official statements the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, while Russia and China had said that G20 is not the forum to discuss the matter. Owing to the lack of agreement on this matter, no official communiques could be issued in the two meetings, as that would require unanimous consent of all the members.
Seth said that in the FMCBG meet, there will also be discussions and sessions on the global economy, financing of sustainable infrastructure, climate action, debt vulnerabilities being faced by low and middle-income countries, global taxation, international financial architecture, cryptocurrency, digital public infrastructure and financial inclusion.
“The aim is to finalise the outcome documents as we get closer to the Leaders’ Meet in September,” Seth said.
Among the reports commissioned by G-20 under India’s Presidency, the first part of the report on reforms in multilateral institutions like the World Bank and IMF has already been submitted and will be released on July 18. It has been authored by a committee led by 15th Finance Commission Chairman NK Singh and former Federal Reserve Chairman Lawrence Summers, Seth said.
However, another report, on a framework for global regulation of cryptocurrency, has not yet been presented to G20. It is being drafted by IMF.
Apart from the main G20 meetings in Gandhinagar, there will also be side events at GIFT City, including an infrastructure investors’ dialogue, a high-level tax symposium on combating tax evasion and money laundering, a round-table on crypto assets, and workshops on interlinking fast payment systems and achieving growth-friendly climate actions.