(MENAFN- KNN India)
Strengthen MSMEs for an inclusive economy: G20 Finance Ministers
New Delhi, 14 Oct (KNN) Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs participated in the 4th G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG), which was held on 13th October, 2021 in Washington D.C. on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings.
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) remain a significant part of their commitment to enhance digital financial inclusion of vulnerable and underserved segments of society, carrying forward the work of the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) and implementing the G20 2020 Financial Inclusion Action Plan.
In this regard, they endorsed the G20 Menu of Policy Options for digital financial literacy and financial consumer and MSME protection“Enhancing digital financial inclusion beyond the COVID-19 crisis,” with the aim to provide a guide for policymakers in their efforts to lay the ground for new financial inclusion strategies in the post-pandemic world.
The G20 FMCBGs reaffirmed their commitment to advance the forward-looking agenda set in the G20 Action Plan to steer the global economy towards a strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth.
It was the final FMCBG Meeting under the G20 Italian Presidency and saw discussions and agreements on various issues concerning global economic recovery, pandemic support to vulnerable countries, global health, climate action, international taxation and financial sector issues.
For a sustained recovery from the pandemic, the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors agreed to avoid any premature withdrawal of support measures, while preserving financial stability and long-term fiscal sustainability, and safeguarding against downside risks and negative spill overs.
Finance Minister Sitharaman noted that for transitioning from crisis to recovery, one of the major challenges is ensuring equitable access to vaccines for all. The Finance Minister suggested that keeping up the support, building resilience, enhancing productivity and structural reforms should be our policy goals.
She appreciated the role of G20 in rallying pandemic response and supporting vulnerable countries through debt relief measures and the new SDR allocation. Going forward, India's finance minister suggested on focusing efforts on making the benefits reach the intended countries.
The Finance Minister joined the G20 Ministers and Governors in agreeing on the need for strengthening efforts to counter climate change, and emphasised that considering the varied policy spaces and different starting points of countries, the centrality of climate justice based on United Nations' Framework Convention on Climate Change and principles of Paris Agreement would be critical for taking forward discussions towards successful outcomes.
For addressing tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the economy, the G20 FMCBGs endorsed the final agreement as set out in the Statement on a two-pillar solution and the Detailed Implementation Plan released by the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) on 8th October, 2021.
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