At the opening session of the Kautilya Economic Conclave 2023, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman voiced her apprehensions regarding the diminishing efficacy of worldwide multilateral organizations.
The Kautilya Economic Conclave 2023 also features the participation of Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das, for insightful discussions and strategies to navigate the evolving global economic landscape.
Sitharaman said, “Globally, we don’t need to hesitate any longer to say that the multilateral institutions… whether it is the UN, Security Council or the WHO, WTO are less than effective from where they were made into institutions. The level of effectiveness of their intervention that they were to bring into the global scenario is today at less than an ideal position”.
“Because they have become less effective, what we took for granted is no longer to be taken for granted. We thought if there was a disruption somewhere, the WTO would come into play, if there is a huge pandemic, the WHO would come into play. Similarly, in the developmental agenda of different countries at different levels of development, there would be timely and periodic interventions with which you would see some change with the spirit of inclusiveness so that less developed countries achieve their aspirations, but we find that less effective in all these institutions”, she added.
Sitharaman also highlighted the challenges posed by global terror and stressed that investors and businesses will have to take into account such factors while making investment decisions.
“The global economy is suffering the brunt of simultaneous wars in places that can severely affect supply chains,” FM said.
“You have the wars also today, for us to bear the brunt of,” she added.
Talking about Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), she said, PMJDY launched in 2014, has emerged as the biggest instrument of bringing financial inclusion in the country. The minister said benefits under more than 50 government schemes are being directly transferred into the beneficiaries’ bank accounts, and PMJDY has played an important role.
She also said when the scheme was launched, a certain section of people had made “snide” remarks saying public sector banks would be under pressure as these are zero balance accounts.
However, these accounts have a balance of more than Rs 2 lakh crore, Sitharaman said.
In her address she also spoke elaborately on climate financing and challenges associated with it.
She further said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is conscious of the debt situation and has undertaken fiscal management to ensure that the coming generation is not burdened.
“We are conscious about the debt of government of India today. Compared to many others it might not be as high as it is, but even there we are consciously looking at experiments at different parts of the world. Again, some of the data about some emerging market countries about how they are managing their debt is something which is actively in our minds in the ministry, and we are looking at ways in which we can bring down the overall debt,” she said.
(With agency inputs)
