Washington: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that despite this year’s projected growth rate of 7% for the Indian economy, India remains concerned about the global economic outlook and geopolitical environment.
Attending the Development Committee Meeting of the World Bank-IMF in Washington DC on October 14, Sitharman said that reducing crop loss and food waste should also be the first intervention of choice to ensure food security, in the finance ministry said.
The Union Finance Minister urged the World Bank to avoid a unidimensional view of subsidies and not to lose focus on the internationally agreed basic principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.
The finance minister mentioned that the “Food and Energy Crisis paper” rightly identifies Energy Efficiency as the ‘first fuel of choice’. “Similarly, reducing crop loss and food waste should also be the ‘first intervention of choice’ to ensure #FoodSecurity,” the finance ministry quoted Sitharaman as saying.
Sitharaman has held back-to-back bilaterals with global finance ministers and heads of the top international organizations in Washington DC on topics centred on important economic issues.
The Finance Minister met International Monetary Fund (IMF) Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath, on the sidelines of the IMF-WB meeting and discussed current global matters, including food and energy security issues.
They also held talks on global debt vulnerabilities, climate matters, Digital Assets and the upcoming G20 India Presidency.
On Thursday, Finance Minister Sitharman participated in the second day of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Washington DC.
Her interventions focused on infrastructure investments and International Taxation during the meeting on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank Group (WBG).
At a university event on Thursday, Sitharaman said that India is setting global benchmarks on the digital front and that there is a sense of confidence in the country that it will be able to face geopolitical and economic uncertainties and still perform.
Responding to a question on India’s economic prospects in the face of global uncertainty, Sitharaman said India is now setting global standards and countries around the world recognise this scale of achievement.
She made these remarks after an event at Johns Hopkins University event in Washington on the topic “Technology, Finance and Governance: The Multiplier Effect”.
(With ANI inputs)