The delegates of the rail finance departments meet to reach consensus on the issues where ten decisions had been approved while seventeen had been welcomed by the end of the third meeting of the G20 FMs and central bank governors in Gandhinagar in July. Since then, progress has been made on several aspects, including the financing of tomorrow’s cities and several aspects related to climate change and energy transition.
It has taken into account some of the concerns of countries such as Saudi Arabia about the ‘just transition’ of an oil-led approach, while creating a framework that provides flexibility in assessing the macroeconomic impact of climate change and their transition strategy.
At the same time, managing debt vulnerabilities has so far proved to be an issue on which consensus has not yet been reached due to China’s reticence. However, Indian policymakers said that during its presidency, the government has succeeded in bringing the concern to the fore by addressing the credit problems of at least three countries – Ghana, Ethiopia and Zambia – through the common framework, while the problems of Sri Lanka beyond were resolved.
One of the issues before the delegates is the synthesis document prepared by the IMF and the Financial Stability Council which provides a comprehensive roadmap and the building blocks to regulate crypto assets. Initially, there was concern that the G20 would address this issue, but as things unfolded – including the collapse of some exchanges and the devaluation of cryptocurrency – there is now a growing understanding in the countries to regulate. India has long maintained that one country or group of countries cannot regulate crypto-assets given the widespread use of technology, while at the same time stressing the need to address macro and security-related issues.
Similarly, in the case of multilateral development banks such as the World Bank, government officials said that India has articulated the need to shake them up so that they are in sync with the 21st century to address newer issues such as the digital public infrastructure and the climate change. and also help reduce poverty.