New Delhi: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will visit the US from October 20 to 26 to attend the annual meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), along with crucial huddles of the G20 nations.
Sitharaman will take part in the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Washington DC, the finance ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
She will also attend the joint meetings of G20 finance ministers, central bank governors, environment ministers and foreign ministers, and also the G7-Africa ministerial roundtable.
“Sitharaman will engage in multilateral discussions on multiple fora and also showcase India’s attractiveness as an investment destination,” the ministry said.
During the course of her visit to New York City and Washington DC, the minister will participate in the Pension Funds Roundtable at New York Stock Exchange and interact with students and faculty at the Wharton School and the Columbia University. The International Monetary Fund has forecast that India will remain the world’s fastest-growing major economy in this financial year as well as the next, with 7% and 6.5% expansion, respectively, more than double the global averages.
The World Bank last week raised its growth forecast for the country to 7% for 2024-25, up from its April estimate of 6.6%. The robust growth forecasts make the country an ideal investment destination.
During her US sojourn, Sitharaman will hold one-on-one meetings with heads of World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and chief executives of various financial institutions.
She will also have meetings with distinguished representatives of several countries, including the UK, Switzerland and Germany.
At the World Bank, she will participate in discussion on new financial solutions to accelerate development.
Sitharaman will also participate in a discussion on Bretton Woods Institutions with other panellists, such as economist Lawrence H Summers; Carlos Cuerpo, minister of economy, trade and business, Spain; and Rania Al-Mashat, minister of planning, economic development, and international cooperation, Egypt. Before her journey to the US, Sitharaman will visit Guadalajara in Mexico to chair a roundtable with global tech leaders and a bilateral meeting with her Mexican counterpart Rogelio Ramirez de la O. She will also meet several members of the Mexican Parliament, and deliver a keynote address at the India-Mexico Trade and Investment Summit in Mexico City.
