India Committed To Reform, Join This Journey: Finance Minister

Speaking at a roundtable discussion on ‘Investing in India Decade’ in Washington DC, the minister said the government’s reform agenda aims to address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and build a stronger economy.

In a social media post, the Finance Ministry said, “The government is committed to taking forward the reform agenda to build a stronger and more dynamic India, providing ample opportunities for collaboration and investment and look forward to joining this incredible journey.” welcomes the participants.

The ministry quoted Sitharaman as saying, despite the reality of the worldwide reset and the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, India’s reform momentum remains unabated.

The finance minister is currently in the US to attend the spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, apart from the G20 meetings.

The round table was organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings.

In separate meetings with IMF officials and finance ministers of other countries, Sitharaman also highlighted the effects of combating global inflation on developing countries and the need for world leaders to urgently address the debt crisis in poor countries. pointed to.

Separately, Sitharaman met Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister Mohammad Aljaddan and discussed an expert group set up by the G20 to strengthen multilateral development banks.

The two leaders also discussed global inflation issues, including the impact of anti-inflation measures on the growth prospects of developing and low-income countries and the urgent need to address the growing global debt crisis and improve the implementation of the G20 Common Framework . On debt treatment, the ministry said.

According to International Monetary Fund estimates, about 60% of low-income countries were at high risk of either falling into debt crisis in 2021 or already. In 2015, that number was less than 30%.

Sitharaman, who also met IMF First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath on Wednesday, noted the multilateral agency’s concerns on key downside risks to the economy, including financial sector stress, rising real interest rates, elevated debt, inflation, Geopolitical fragmentation and wobbles are involved. development in China.

Sitharaman highlighted the progress made in India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) platform, with most Indian languages ​​now having access to the platform.

In its latest World Economic Outlook released on Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund slashed its baseline forecast for 2023, which it believes is limited by recent financial sector stresses, to 2.8% in January from 2.9%.

“While risks to the outlook are heavily tilted to the downside, the likelihood of a hard landing has risen sharply,” the International Monetary Fund said.

The multilateral agency’s latest forecast for India’s growth in FY24 is 5.9%, down from January’s forecast of 6.1%.