G20 meet in Bengaluru this week; global growth, rising debt on agenda

New Delhi: Finance ministers and central bank chiefs of the G20 nations will discuss the mounting debt in developing and poor economies, cryptocurrencies and global growth concerns in times of elevated inflationary pressure, at a crucial meeting in Bengaluru this week, officials said on Tuesday.

The first meeting of the finance chiefs under India's G20 presidency is expected to be an opportunity for New Delhi to leverage its growing economic and strategic heft to push for expeditious solutions to key global issues at a time when world powers are still divided over critical issues, including the Ukraine crisis.

Economic affairs secretary Ajay Seth said the debt problem in several countries is a complex issue due to different points of view. He said India will try and take on board others to firm up a solution. About 60% of low-income countries were at high risk of, or already in, debt distress, as per an earlier International Monetary Fund assessment.


Finance, Central Bank Deputies Meet Today
This is up sharply from 30% in 2015, thanks to a series of shocks such as the pandemic and the Ukraine crisis, International Monetary Fund (IMF) said. India's neighbours - Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh - have already approached IMF for bailouts.

The first meeting of the finance chiefs, which will be chaired jointly by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das, is scheduled for February 24-25. It will be preceded by a meeting of G20 finance and central bank deputies on February 22, to be co-chaired by the economic affairs secretary and RBI deputy governor Michael D Patra.

India will also hold a seminar at the G20 meetings this week to drum up consensus on the regulation of crypto assets, Seth said. India has been pitching for a global strategy, given the cross-border nature of crypto transactions and potential risks they pose to the world's financial system.

Food and energy insecurity, too, will feature prominently in the discussion for G20 finance and central bank governors, chief economic adviser V Anantha Nageswaran said. Top finance ministry officials held a G20 curtain raiser briefing in Bengaluru.

Reforms of multilateral development banks, international taxation and boosting the availability of finance to tackle climate risks are among the other critical items on the agenda.

"While thinking about debt concerns faced by countries, it is also important to think about what we can do to forestall them," Nageswaran said. "So, the discussions would be aimed both at handling them before they arise and after they arise as well."

Last month, IMF said it is expecting some slowdown in the Indian economy in FY24 and projected the country's growth at 6.1%, against 6.8% this fiscal year. However, it stressed that India remained a "bright spot" as global growth is expected to fall from an estimated 3.4% in 2022 to 2.9% in 2023, before rising to 3.1% in 2024.