FM Sitharaman discusses economic risks with Gita Gopinath

Union Finance Minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman met with International Monetary Fund's (IMF) first deputy manager (FDMD) Gita Gopinath on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank spring meeting 2023 in Washington on April 11, 2023.

Sitharaman and Gopinath discussed the progress being made under India's G20 Presidency on debt issues, crypto-related challenges along with other issues during the meeting.

During the meeting, the Minister noted IMF’s concerns on key downside risks to the economy including financial sector stress, rising real interest rates, elevated debt, inflation, geo-political fragmentation, and faltering growth in China, as highlighted in World Economic Outlook, according to the Union Finance Ministry.

The Minister acknowledged IMF’s support to the G20 India Presidency in the form of inputs towards developing evidence-based policy guidance in the meeting with the first deputy manager.

Meanwhile, Gopinath congratulated her on the fruitful discussions that translated the February consensus on the need for a globally coordinated policy response on crypto assets into an agreed set of guiding principles and an action plan on crypto assets.

During the meeting, the Minister thanked her for accelerating India’s work on the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable along with the World Bank and reiterated India’s commitment to foster efforts to address growing debt vulnerabilities.

Sitharaman is currently on a US visit leading a highly-ranked Indian delegation to attend the IMF-World Bank spring meeting and will attend G20 meetings, Investor/ bilateral meetings, and other associated meetings from April 10 to 16, 2023.