Chandigarh: Frontline world economies to discuss rising global debt at G-20 conclave

Leading economies of the world will discuss the global debt situation and explore possible solutions to handle the mounting debt in a better manner during the first G-20 international financial architecture working group conclave beginning on Monday in Chandigarh under the Indian Presidency

Leading economies of the world will discuss the global debt situation and explore possible solutions to handle the mounting debt in a better manner during the first G-20 international financial architecture working group conclave beginning on Monday here under the Indian Presidency, it has emerged.

Anu P Mathai, Adviser (International Economic Relations), speaks at a Curtain Raiser press conference on the eve of G20 conclave’s first meeting of the International Financial Architecture Working Group, in Chandigarh on Sunday. Baldeo Purushartha, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance is also seen. (ANI)

How to strengthen the crisis response and help very poor nations; how to deal with new challenges such as the pandemic and how multilateral banks and international financial institutions can be made stronger to meet the funding needs are some of the hot-button issues the international financial architecture working group will discuss during the brainstorming sessions lasting two days.

Another objective of the international financial architecture working group meeting is to address multiple challenges faced by vulnerable countries.

The significance of the meetings lies in the fact that the G-20 comprising 19 countries, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States, besides European Union. Together the G-20 represents about 85% of the global GDP, over 75% of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.

The conclave will be inaugurated by the Union minister of agriculture and farmers’ welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar on Monday morning. The discussions will be jointly steered by the Union ministry of finance and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) along with France and Korea who are the co-chairs of the International Financial Architecture Working Group.

“Debt is a major item on the agenda...under the Indian presidency there will be a comprehensive look at the global debt situation...idea is to come out with a report to see what has worked and what has not worked and how it can be improved...so debt continues to be a major part of the agenda,” said Anu P Mathai, adviser in the Union finance ministry, pointing out that the international financial architecture working group (as the name suggests) particularly deals with how to strengthen crisis response and how to help the very poor nations during a crisis.

Mathai, who was flanked by Baldeo Purushartha, joint secretary (Union finance ministry), said that another area of discussion will be how to make multilateral banks and international financial institutions stronger to meet the funding needs of this century keeping in view the pandemics and climate change.

In 2020, under the debt service suspension initiative, steps were taken to defer the debt repayment of very poor countries. The next step was how to restructure the debt of very poor countries. And equally important was the transparency of debt.

According to Mathai, now under the Indian presidency, the focus will be on how to deal with debt and how to handle debt in a better way as certain initiatives taken earlier did not yield the desired results.

Yet another issue, she said, the delegates will discuss is how to make multilateral development banks stronger to meet financing requirements. How the global financial safety net can be made stronger is another key issue on the agenda.

India holds the presidency of the G-20 from December 1, 2022, to November 30, 2023. The G-20 is the premier forum for international economic cooperation and it plays an important role in shaping and strengthening global architecture and governance on all major international economic issues.

The G-20 Summit is held annually, under the leadership of a rotating Presidency. The G-20 initially focused largely on broad macroeconomic issues, but it has since expanded its agenda to inter-alia including trade, climate change, sustainable development, health, agriculture, energy, environment, climate change, and anti-corruption.

About 100 delegates from across the G-20 membership, invitee countries, and international organisations are expected to participate in the two-day meeting the core of which is to discuss ways to enhance the stability and cohesion of the international financial architecture and how to make it fit for addressing the global challenges of the 21st century.

Baldeo Purushartha, joint secretary, Union finance ministry, said that in the run-up to this meeting, a number of events were held across UT Chandigarh for increasing “jan-bhagidari” and generating interest in the G-20 events under the Indian presidency.

“These events are aimed at creating awareness of the G-20 Indian presidency in 2023 and its theme ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (one earth, one family, one future),” Purushartha said.

Following the discussions held here, the first meeting of the G-20 finance ministers and Central Bank governors will be held on February 24-25, 2023, in Bengaluru.