Indian G20 Presidency has prioritised the need to consider macro-financial implications of crypto assets
India’s pioneering efforts in leveraging Digital Public Infrastructure (DPIs) to accelerate financial inclusion to the last mile was lauded at the Third G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting held 17-18 July in Gandhinagar.
While noting that harnessing DPIs can help countries to leapfrog their development trajectories, the members unanimously endorsed the ‘G20 Policy Recommendations for Advancing Financial Inclusion and Productivity Gains through Digital Public Infrastructure’. developed under the Indian Presidency.
These policy recommendations will be instrumental in guiding the G20 and non-G20 countries to leverage DPI for fast pacing their development processes and achieve strong and inclusive growth.
The G20 FMCBGs endorsed the new G20 2023 Financial Inclusion Action Plan (FIAP) for the three years 2024-26, the FIAP provides an action-oriented and forward-looking roadmap for rapidly advancing financial inclusion of individuals and MSMEs in G20 and beyond by focusing on action areas which inter alia focus on promoting technological, innovations and digital infrastructure including DPI.
Also, India has been appointed as one of the Co-Chairs of the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) and in its capacity of Co-Chair, India will lead the implementation of the new FIAP for the next three years starting from 2024.
Further, the Indian Presidency has prioritised the need to consider macro-financial implications of crypto assets along with financial stability concerns.
The Presidency has also focused on bringing the specific concerns of the Global South onto the crypto assets’ agenda. As a result, the IMF had, in February, presented a paper on the macro-financial implications to the 2nd G20 FMCBG.
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has also included sections on EMDE concerns in its forthcoming reports and deliberations. In continuation of this process, in the July meeting, the G20 members welcomed the high-level recommendations of the FSB on crypto-asset activities and global stablecoin arrangements.
The FMCBG meeting was preceded by the Third G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies (FCBD) meeting during 14-15 July 2023 in Gandhinagar.
Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman and Governor, Reserve Bank of India, Shaktikanta Das, jointly chaired the meeting attended by over 500 delegates, including Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from G20 member countries, Invitee Countries, and Heads of various International Organisations. Fiinews.com
