Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth says the Finance Track of the G20 was able to build consensus across deliverables by adopting a well-structured strategy. While more than 10 deliverables have already been adopted, work is underway on a few more. In an interview to Business Today, he explains the key policy decisions at the G20 and the way forward. Edited excerpts:
Q. The Indian presidency got 10 deliverables in the finance track. This is a significant achievement. How did this happen?
There were more than 10 deliverables in the Finance Track of the G20. Work is underway on a few more which will be taken up for consideration in the October finance ministers and central bank governors (FMCBG) meeting. To date, the Finance Track has conducted three ministerial meetings, five deputies’ meetings, and 18 working group meetings. We were able to build consensus across deliverables by adopting a well-structured strategy. Early-stage planning ensured clarity in the goals and priorities of the Indian Presidency. Priorities were identified based on well-defined criteria which included global relevance, India connect, people-centricity and acceptability for other member countries. There was also extensive consultation with the membership at every stage and willingness to adopt alternative strategies depending upon the evolution of the negotiation process. There was close collaboration with the working group co-chairs and relevant international organisations. Partnerships with Japan’s G7 Presidency and France’s New Global Financing Pact enabled India to embed the key ideas of the G20 Presidency across multilateral forums.
Q. What will be the impact of the permanent membership to the African Union to the G20 in terms of increasing trade and investments? Will it help to counter the growing Chinese influence in the region?
AU’s permanent membership in the G20 has to be viewed for its own merit rather than as a counteracting force to any other country. The inclusion of AU recognises the need for greater representation of the Global South in the G20 deliberations. AU represents 55 African nations and with their inclusion as a permanent member of the G20, it brings in more balance and greater inclusivity in the G20 outcomes. Issues discussed in the G20 such as debt resolution, MDB reforms have a strong resonance with the African countries since they are major beneficiaries of these global policy efforts.
Q. Can you elaborate on the way forward for the MDB reforms and quota reforms on which the Declaration has also spoken?
Volume two of the Report of the G20 Independent Expert Group (IEG) on Strengthening MDBs is expected in October. It will be taken up for discussion among the G20 membership in the October G20 meeting on the sidelines of Annual Meetings along with Volume 1 of the Report which came out in July. The G20 will continue engaging with the MDBs to explore options on how IEG’s recommendations can be suitably adopted by the MDBs within their governance frameworks.
Q. What will be India’s position on regulating crypto assets?
The IMF and FSB, through the Synthesis Paper, have advanced policy and regulatory recommendations to identify and respond to macroeconomic and financial stability risks associated with crypto assets. The Paper was presented during the Leaders’ Summit and provides valuable guidance, to not just the G-20 but also the non-G20 jurisdictions, in moving forward with clearer policies on crypto assets. The Paper also emphasises that emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) face higher risks from crypto assets. As such, India will have to thoroughly evaluate these recommendations before deciding its stance. Moreover, FSB’s Crypto Working Group has an ongoing workstream that is focussing on heightened implications faced by the EMDEs. The outcome of this workstream will also be crucial to our policy work. That said, it also needs to be noted that the Synthesis Paper contains a “Policy implementation roadmap”. This roadmap is an important agenda item for discussion and further deliberations will be held during the 4th FMCBG meeting under our Presidency next month. This will further help us understand how various jurisdictions are taking positions with respect to the policies mentioned in the Synthesis Paper.
Q. The fourth meeting of the finance minister and central bank governors of the G20 will be next month. What other issues will be taken apart from MDB reforms and crypto regulations?
The focus of the fourth FMCBG meeting will be on the MDB agenda and crypto-assets. Apart from this, discussions will also focus on the current global economic outlook.
Q. India’s digital public infrastructure (DPIs) was showcased at the Summit. Has there been any interest in this from other countries?
There is a lot of interest in DPIs. Ministry of Finance, Reserve Bank of India, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Ministry of External Affairs are working on taking forward the interest that has been generated. India through its Presidency of the G20 has showcased the success and potential of DPIs through various meetings held over the year. Under the India Presidency, a set of G20 Policy Recommendations for advancing financial inclusion and productivity gains through DPI was also developed under the Finance Track. These recommendations were recently endorsed by the G20 Leaders and have been well received by G20 countries and International Organisations. These also contributed to developing a global know-how on DPI for financial inclusion. Two state-of-the-art Digital India Experience Zones were set up at Bharat Mandapam to facilitate the sharing of experience and best practices on implementing DPIs in the country. Seven key initiatives were selected to showcase the best practices in implementing DPIs including Aadhaar, DigiLocker, UPI, eSanjeevani, DIKSHA, Bhashini and ONDC. RBI Innovation Pavilions were organised showcasing Digital Payments Initiatives like UPI One World, RuPay On-The-Go, Bharat Bill Payment System cross border bill payment.
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