Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to leave for the United States tonight to attend the Spring Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The meeting, which will bring together Finance Ministers and Central Bankers from around the world, is set to take place from Monday at the IMF Headquarters in Washington DC.
During her visit, Sitharaman is expected to have bilateral engagements with her counterparts from G20 countries and Heads of other delegations on the sidelines of the Spring Annual Meetings. She and Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das will also jointly chair the 2nd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting on 12th of April.
Around 350 delegates from G20 members, 13 invitee countries, and various international and regional organizations will participate in the meeting. They will engage in multilateral discussions centred around a broad spectrum of pressing global issues. The focus will be on issues such as addressing food and energy insecurity, managing global debt vulnerabilities, strengthening Multilateral Development Banks, mobilizing finance for climate action, and accelerating progress on International Tax and Financial Sector issues.
The Finance Ministry stated that the meeting will take stock of the progress made on outcomes envisaged under India’s G20 Finance Track agenda. The 2nd G20 FMCBG meeting will also advance efforts towards the preparation of G20 India Finance Track deliverables for the 3rd G20 FMCBG meeting to be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat in July this year.