Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attended the plenary meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the Ministerial-level committee of IMF, through video-conference on Thursday.
During her intervention at the meeting, the Minister briefly outlined the measures under the AtmaNirbhar Bharat Package to foster a quick and more robust economic recovery in India.
In a statement, the Ministry said, the discussions at the meeting were based on IMF Managing Director’s Global Policy Agenda titled ‘Catalysing a Resilient Recovery.’ The members of the IMFC updated the committee on the actions and measures taken by member countries to combat COVID-19 and its adverse impacts.
FM Sitharaman mentioned that the V-shaped pattern of recovery is being seen in several high-frequency indicators, including manufacturing PMI that reached the highest level in last eight years in the last month, presenting a strong recovery prospect for the manufacturing sector. To stimulate consumer spending, measures worth 10 billion dollars have been announced recently.
The Finance Minister complimented the IMF and it’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva for providing wise counselling to the economies across the globe and felt that IMF’s assertion that a premature withdrawal of policy support could trigger liquidity shortfalls and insolvencies, is relevant.
FM noted that several low-income and developing countries are confronted with the challenge to protect and ensure livelihood for millions slipping below the poverty line. She added that recovery and rehabilitation efforts in these countries must not be allowed to be undermined in any manner.