Sitharaman takes part in virtual session of G20 finance ministers, central bank governors

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman participated in the virtual session of the second G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting under the Saudi Arabian Presidency on Wednesday to discuss the global economic outlook amid COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

"Today in her intervention, Finance Minister focused upon the role of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in safeguarding the lives and livelihood of people while maintaining macroeconomic stability in a sustainable manner," a release from Finance Ministry said on Wednesday.

The Finance Minister shared with her G20 counterparts the measures taken by India to provide the "vulnerable sections with swift, timely and targeted assistance".

As per the release, she said that within a couple of weeks India has disbursed financial assistance amounting to USD 3.9 billion to more than 320 million people, with a special focus on direct benefit transfer through digital technology so that the exposure of beneficiaries to public places is minimised.

Sitharaman also said that the monetary policy measures undertaken by Government of India, Reserve Bank of India and other regulators have helped de-freeze the market and catalyse credit flows.

An Action Plan has been prepared on the directions of G20 leaders to protect lives, safeguard jobs and incomes, restore confidence, preserve financial stability, revive growth and recover stronger, provide help to countries needing assistance, coordinate on public health and financial measures and minimise disruption to the global supply chain.

"Talking about the Action Plan, Union Minister called it a step in the right direction and said that the document will guide individual and collective actions for the G20 members in responding to COVID-19 pandemic in short and medium term," the Ministry said.

Sitharaman also expressed her sincere hope that the crisis will be overcome soon and said that the "lessons learnt will enable us to develop prudent policy measure to combat any such crisis in the future."

( With inputs from ANI )