Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said debt distress, digital currency, strengthening multilateral development banks (MDBs) and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) are the main agenda of the Finance Track under G20 India Presidency.
In a meeting with United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J Mohammed, Sitharaman exchanged views on the financing of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the ongoing G20 India Presidency.
“The Union Finance Minister stated that a G20 Expert Group on ‘Strengthening MDBs’ has been constituted to undertake an evaluation of the scale of funding required by low and middle-income developing countries to address the ever-increasing financing gap for SDs (sustainable developments) and transboundary challenges,” Finance ministry tweeted.
Sitharaman observed that G20 needs to provide momentum for International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and MDBs to step-up to provide adequate financing at affordable terms to enable the developing countries to achieve the 2030 Agenda and the environment and climate goals.
Following the Covid pandemic, many countries including India’s neighbours were stressed by high debt and slump in economic growth. Under India’s leadership, G20 is trying to find solutions to the debt stress faced by developing countries.