FM Sitharaman to attend IMF-World Bank annual meeting during US visit

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who leaves for the United States on Tuesday on a six-day visit, will attend the annual meetings of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, which is likely to deliberate on ways to come out of the post-Covid global economic slowdown.

During her visit, the finance minister will also attend the annual meetings of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors.

Sitharaman is expected to hold parleys with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and David Malpass, President, World Bank on issues of mutual interest.

The IMF-World Bank annual meeting comes amid warning by IMF about the darkening outlook for the global economy and rising recession risks.

Read | IMF chief urges action to ward off global recession risk

Last week it said that are already hard hit by high food and fuel prices, stare at dampening demand for exports amid the slowdown in the world’s largest economies of Europe, China and The US.

The World Bank has already cut India’s economic growth estimates by one percentage point and the IMF in its review this week is also likely to pare global growth projection including that of India.

Top on the finance minister’s agenda is meeting with investors from different countries gathered in the US and exhort them to invest in India where the government has taken a slew of pro-business reforms including reduction in corporate tax in the past three-four years.

Sitharaman will take part in bilateral meetings with several countries, including Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Bhutan, New Zealand, Egypt, Germany, Mauritius, UAE, Iran and Netherlands.

Sitharam will share her thoughts on India’s digital story and multiplier effects created through the interlinkages of technology, finance and governance at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), John Hopkins University, during the visit.