E-Paper
Sitharaman stresses on need to take multilateral action to calm rising global inflation
Global economy, which has been recovering from the devastating impact of several waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, is facing a crisis because of the Russia-Ukraine war that triggered economic sanctions against Moscow by various countries, leading to soaring international oil prices, which has an inflationary impact.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday spoke to International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva and stressed on the need to take multilateral action amid a spike in prices of commodities due to global supply chain disruptions because of the geo-political situation.
“FM Smt. @nsitharaman and Ms. @KGeorgieva suggested that the key question remains on the control of inflation while balancing needs for growth,” the finance ministry said in a series of tweets after the virtual meeting of Sitharaman with Georgieva.
Global economy, which has been recovering from the devastating impact of several waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, is facing major headwind because of the Russia-Ukraine war that triggered economic sanctions against Moscow by various countries such as the US and European companies, leading to soaring international oil prices, which has inflationary impact. Benchmark Brent crude on Monday neared $140 per barrel, about a 14-year high, after the US banned Russian crude import. Although oil prices eased a bit as European nations did not follow suit, Brent on Friday was trading 2.34% up at $111.89.
A proactive discussion on the macro international economic situation and need for multilateral action took place between the finance minister and Georgieva, it said.
“FM Smt. @nsitharaman and Ms. @KGeorgieva spoke about the issue of global supply chains being affected, commodity prices rising and the possible effects on the world economy,” one of the tweets said.
They discussed about the priorities for the IMF’s Spring Meetings in Washington DC and the G20 Presidency. India looks forward to engaging with the IMF for its upcoming G20 Presidency in 2023. The 2022 Spring Meetings of IMF and the World Bank Group (WBG) will take place from Monday, April 18, through Sunday, April 24.
India will hold the presidency of the G20 from December 1, 2022, to November 30, 2023. The Group of Twenty includes the world’s 20 largest economies and is the premier forum for international economic cooperation that plays an important role in global economic governance.
“FM Smt. @nsitharaman and Ms. @KGeorgieva discussed the issue of 16th GRQ [General Quota Reviews] scheduled to be completed by 2023 and the need to ensure that underrepresentation of Emerging Market & Developing Economies is addressed,” another tweet said.
They expressed concern at diminishing focus and global supply of Covid19 vaccines, one tweet said. “FM highlighted India’s achievement in successfully administering 1.79 billion doses while at the same time supplying 162.9 million doses to countries in need,” it added.
