09/06/23

G20 working group discusses key global financial issues at 2-day Goa meet

A key G20 working group on finance discussed a host of issues, including strengthening multilateral development banks to address global challenges of the 21st century and bolstering international financial safety net, during its two-day meeting that concluded here in Goa on Wednesday.

The meeting of the third G20 International Finance Architecture Working Group (IFAWG), co-chaired by South Korea and France, discussed key priority areas of the group. India currently holds the presidency of Group of 20 (G20), an intergovernmental forum of the world's major developed and developing economies, and has been holding meetings of various working groups in states and Union territories.

The conclave, which started on Tuesday in the coastal state, saw the participation of approximately 100 delegates from G20 member-countries, invitee nations and various international organizations, including multilateral development banks (MDBs). The gathering was jointly steered by the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India along with France and South Korea, the co-chairs of the IFAWG.

As published on: economictimes.indiatimes.com, Wednesday 7 June, 2023. 

"The meeting saw detailed deliberations on key priority areas of the IFAWG, which included strengthening MDBs to address shared global challenges of the 21st century and others," said a government spokesman. The discussions also centred around managing global debt vulnerabilities, strengthening the Global Financial Safety Net (GFSN), following up on the IMF's general special drawing rights (SDR) allocation, strengthening financial resilience through sustainable capital flows and assessing macro-financial implications of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), he said.

The spokesman said the members recognized the need for MDBs to strengthen and evolve to address trans-boundary challenges. "There was a shared understanding among members on the urgency to address debt vulnerabilities and find pragmatic solutions to strengthen coordinated policy action to address the worsening debt situation.

"Members also discussed how climate change-related policies can impact capital flows and macro-financial impact of the widespread adoption of CBDCs on the international monetary system," he said. On the sidelines of the meeting, a seminar was held on "Towards Orderly Green Transition -- Investment Requirements and Managing Risks to Capital Flows" on June 6.

The seminar facilitated enriching panel discussions on current issues linked to risks associated with capital flows from climate transition policies, said the spokesman. He said discussions from the meeting will help in finalizing key deliverables of the IFAWG that will be submitted to the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBGs) for endorsement during their third meeting scheduled to be held on July 17-18 in Gandhinagar.

G20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkiye, the UK, the US and the European Union (EU).

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