G20: Meet on financial architecture in Chandigarh from today

Chandigarh, January 29

The first two-day G20 International Financial Architecture Working Group meeting under India’s G20 Presidency will be inaugurated here on Monday by Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Food Processing Industries Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras.

The meeting will discuss ways to increase the stability and cohesion of the international financial architecture and how to make it fit to address the global challenges of the 21st century. It will also focus on exploring ways to provide maximum support to poor and vulnerable countries, Anu Mathai from the Union Finance Ministry told the media on Sunday. This working group particularly deals with how to strengthen response at the times of crisis, she said.

Working group mandate

• G20 delegates will discuss ways to increase stability and cohesion of international financial architecture
• The working group will focus on exploring ways to provide maximum support to poor and vulnerable countries
• It will meet again in March, June and Sept, before placing recommendations for G20 Summit in New Delhi on Sept 9 and 10

The discussions during the two-day meeting will be jointly steered by the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India along with France and Korea who are the co-chairs of the International Financial Architecture Working Group. The working group will meet again thrice, in March, June and September, before placing its recommendations for the G20 Summit in New Delhi on September 9 and 10.

Deliberations of the working group conclave will feed into the first meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors on February 24 and 25 in Bengaluru.

The International Financial Architecture Working Group is a workstream under the G20 Finance Track with a focus on strengthening the international financial architecture as well as addressing multiple challenges faced by vulnerable countries.

Around 100 delegates G20 members, especially invited countries and representatives of international organisations are here for the two-day meeting, said an official statement.

On its sidelines, a G20 side event “Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs): Opportunities and Challenges” will also be held on Monday.

In the run-up to the meeting, a seminar on “Central Bank Digital Currencies: The Indian Story” was held on January 25 here.

Replying to a question, she said debt was a major item on the agenda of the International Financial Architecture Working Group.