Sitharaman prioritizes global economy and women’s empowerment at the IMF meeting
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Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has arrived in Washington to attend the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, as well as chair the second G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting under the Indian presidency. During her visit, Sitharaman will meet with her US counterpart, treasury secretary Janet Yellen, and commerce secretary, Gina Raimondo, and speak on the prospects for the Indian economy at a policy institute in Washington.
Sitharaman will also participate in public events on topics such as digital public infrastructure, implications of crypto assets, empowerment of women as entrepreneurs and leaders, and the Lifestyle for Environment (Life) initiative to address the climate crisis. She will be accompanied by Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das and will take forward discussions on the finance track of the G20, which will focus on three themes: the global economy and international financial architecture; sustainable finance, financial sector, and financial inclusion; and international taxation.
The IMF has projected a slowdown in global growth over the next five years and flagged the economic costs of geopolitical fragmentation. It is also struggling to deal with the debt crises that have spread across low-income countries, with China refusing to write down loans it has given to distressed countries. Sitharaman will attend the IMF plenary as well as the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable, which India co-chairs with the World Bank and the IMF.
Furthermore, Sitharaman will attend the development committee meeting of the World Bank, where discussions on the bank’s evolution roadmap to overhaul its mission, operating model, and financial resources to take into account new global challenges such as the climate crisis will take place. She will also meet the G20 expert group on reforming multilateral development banks, co-chaired by veteran Indian economic policymaker and former parliamentarian NK Singh and former US treasury secretary and Harvard economist Larry Summers.
Re-reported from the story originally published in Hindustan Times
