Inaugural G20 FMCBG meeting in Bengaluru next week; RBI Guv, Finance Min to join

The first G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting, under the G20's Indian Presidency, is scheduled to take place in Bengaluru between February 24-25.

The meeting is aimed at fostering a meaningful exchange of ideas among ministers and Governors to address some of the key global economic issues.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das will jointly chair the meeting, official sources said.

The G20 FMCBG meeting will be preceded by a meeting of G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies (FCBD) on February 22, which would be co-chaired by Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth and RBI Deputy Governor Michael D. Patra.

Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, will inaugurate the G20 FCBD meeting.

The first G20 FMCBG meeting under the G20 Indian Presidency will see the participation of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G20 members, invitee members and heads of international organisations.

In all, there will be 72 delegations attending the meeting.

The meeting will be spread over three sessions on February 24-25, covering issues such as strengthening multilateral development banks to address shared global challenges of the 21st century, financing for resilient, inclusive and sustainable cities of tomorrow, and leveraging Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for advancing financial inclusion and productivity gains.

The sessions will also cover issues related to global economy, global health, and international taxation.

The discussions in the G20 FMCBG meeting are intended to provide a clear mandate for the various workstreams of the G20 Finance Track in 2023.

On the sidelines of these meetings, a number of side events have been planned for the visiting Ministers, governors, deputies and other delegates, on subjects such as dgital public infrastructure, policy perspectives on crypto assets and the role of National Payment Systems in cross border payments.

(With inputs from IANS)