Addressing a roundtable on Investing in the India Decade in Washington DC, Sitharaman stated late Tuesday that India’s reform momentum remained “unabated” even when the global economy was grappling with the challenges posed by the pandemic, according to the finance ministry tweets. The roundtable was organised by Ficci and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum.
The technology adoption rate of Indians is twice that of people in other countries, the minister said, suggesting that this is not just making their lives easier but also creating adequate investment potential for companies.
Highlighting the benefits of the country’s fast-expanding digital public infrastructure, the minister also said local languages are being used to enable a vast segment of population to have access to such infrastructure.
The budget for FY24, she said, reflects a host of “structural and governance reforms” that the government has undertaken to realise the vision for a new India as it moves towards the centenary of its independence.
She suggested that the growing international acknowledgement of India’s renewed role in the global economic order would also help spur investments into the country.
The minister is in Washington DC to attend the spring meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).FMCBG meeting
The second meeting of the finance ministers and central bank governors (FMCBG) of G20 nations under India’s presidency started on Wednesday in Washington DC. The meeting, jointly chaired by Sitharaman and Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das, focussed on food and energy insecurity and global debt vulnerabilities, among others.
Talks on multilateral banks
On Wednesday, Sitharaman also participated in a roundtable on the evolution of multilateral development banks (MDBs), hosted by US treasury secretary Janet Yellen. The finance minister said the MDB evolution dialogue needs to be inclusive and consensus-based, and it should recognise, in full measure, the development priorities of various countries.