The fourth Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting (FMCBG) under the G20 chairmanship of India is all set to begin on October 12 and 13 in Marrakesh with two key agenda items to watch out for.
These include the final volume of reforms for multilateral development banks (MDBs) and the roadmap for crypto asset regulations. After ironing out the language issues surrounding the Russo-Ukraine war, another highlight of the latest FMCBG meeting could also be the group’s first communique under the chairmanship of India, instead of a statement by the chairman.
Experts believe members can either approve the report on MDB reforms or agree to spend more time on consideration. In the case of the latter, the agenda will shift to the Brazilian presidency of the G-20. The FMCBG is expected to discuss at its meeting the roadmap that will support a coordinated and comprehensive policy and regulatory framework for crypto assets.
Ahead of Marrakesh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired a meeting with heads of multilateral development banks and co-conveners of an independent G20 expert group on strengthening the IMF — NK Singh and Lawrence Summers — on Friday. The second volume of the group’s report will go into details such as financing modalities, specific mechanisms to support the main goal of tripling credit by 2030.
“These institutions must become not only bigger, but also bolder and better. We need to move to a 21st century timetable if they are to meet the challenges,” Summers, a former US Treasury secretary, earlier told Business Standard.
Countries have not yet agreed on the required capital infusion for the MDB. The leaders’ statement from New Delhi said: “We appreciate the efforts of the G20 Independent Expert Group on Strengthening MDBs in the preparation of Volume 1 of the report and look forward to its consideration in conjunction with Volume 2, expected in October 2023.” FMCBG comes ahead of the G20 virtual summit to be held in November to review the progress made under India’s chairmanship. “Depending on the discussions, this could be a concrete outcome of India’s chairmanship of the G20 in terms of a framework for MDBs,” said former finance secretary Ashok Lavasa, who was also vice president of the Asian Development Bank until recently.
As for crypto assets, Lavasa said it may not be a top priority as there are several issues related to it that require adoption.
“Most of the leaders feel that the specific decisions of each MDB should be taken by their boards. Countries must agree to the capital injection. Most likely they will seek more time,” said Subhash Garg, former finance secretary.
The meeting will be held on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Ahead of the FMCBG, the G24 Ministerial Meetings, Central Bank Governors and their Deputies will also follow the theme “Strengthening Multilateral Development Banks to Address the Global Challenges of the 21st Century”.