FTA Agreement: The British government on Saturday said that India and Britain have agreed to make further progress in the ongoing negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and to hold the next bilateral economic and financial dialogue at the earliest.
At the conclusion of UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s visit to India for the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting held under India’s 2023 Presidency, the UK’s Treasury Department said the finance minister held bilateral economic and economic cooperation with Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman. Talk with attention. financial relationship.
“In a meeting with Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the two sides agreed to move forward on the UK-India Free Trade Agreement and deepen bilateral economic and financial ties,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.
It added, “They agreed to make rapid progress on establishing the next UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue.”
On his first international trip as UK chancellor, Hunt also met business leaders in Bengaluru and visited the offices of tech multinational Wipro, which employs more than 4,000 people in the UK. “Meeting fellow finance ministers face-to-face is an excellent opportunity to make real progress on the major global economic issues of our time,” Hunt said.
“I first visited India 38 years ago, and it is fascinating to see how much the country has changed in that time – there are positive lessons to be learned from their successful rapid growth.
“It was great to hear from Indian technology business leaders in Bengaluru about how they are driving the country’s economy forward, and I look forward to further collaboration between India and the UK as we continue to do business and create jobs Let’s keep – fulfilling the government’s plan to develop the economy, ”he said.
The chancellor, along with Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, attended a meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bank governors on Thursday. He was virtually linked to Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko.
His statement sent a strong message of condemnation for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, announcing financial assistance totaling USD 39 billion for the Ukrainian government in 2023 and continuing support for vulnerable countries most affected by the economic impact Committed to keeping the war,” Treasury said.
On Friday, the UK announced a new wave of internationally coordinated sanctions and trade measures to “further limit Russia’s ability to wage war in Ukraine now and in the future”.
At the first G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting under the Indian presidency, Hunt strongly condemned “Russia’s brutal acts”, stressing that achieving peace was the most important action for global development .
According to the UK government, the senior cabinet minister underlined the need for bilateral official creditors and the private sector to urgently help address low and middle income country debt vulnerabilities in developing countries.
The minister stressed the importance of multilateral development banks lending from their existing balance sheets and called on the G20 to meet its pledge of USD 100 billion of special drawing rights to the IMF in support of developing countries.
“The Indian Presidency issued a Chair’s statement at the end of the meeting, which highlighted, among other things, the continuing need to fight inflation and the importance of supply-side policies, especially those that increase the labor supply promote growth and reduce price pressures.
“There was also G20 agreement, including China, on the need for faster resolution of existing debt restructuring cases and to act on the effects of food and energy insecurity on the global economy,” the Treasury said.
In Bengaluru, the UK Chancellor is said to have had “productive bilateral meetings” with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. Fund (IMF). He also met Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers.
Speaking at the meetings, the Chancellor is said to have set out the UK government’s intention to protect those most vulnerable to cost-of-living pressures, while maintaining financial stability by reducing debt and not increasing inflationary pressures. To be protected He said the Rishi Sunak-led government’s upcoming Spring Budget on 15 March would “accelerate economic growth, with a focus on skills, business and infrastructure investment and research and innovation, as well as regulations on key UK growth industries”. Will review”.
(With inputs from PTI)
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