FinMin takes stock of issues ahead of G-20 sherpas meet

As the government gears up for the G-20 sherpas meet in Washington and the finance deputies meet to be held in London this September...

As the government gears up for the G-20 sherpas meet in Washington and the finance deputies meet to be held in London this September,the finance ministry is busy taking stock of the issues that are expected to come to the fore this time. Apart from issues relating to financial reforms,a number of contentious issues including climate change financing,preparing a charter for sustainable economic activity and improving financial access of low income countries are expected to take centre stage,according to senior government officials.

The meetings will be geared to take stock of the global financial situation and the measures taken by G-20 economies to counter the slowdown. One of the most important issue that is emerging for the forum is the debate over when would it be the right time for governments to withdraw fiscal stimulus to avoid high inflation, the official said.

Interestingly there will also be a lot of sensitive issues taken up this time round,the official added. Even though climate change finance is being discussed at the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCC),a parallel discussion is being slated for the G-20 meetings. A task force for the same is expected to be set up engaging finance ministers to come out with a clear plan for adaptation and mitigation in the context of climate change. The two sources of funding that will be discussed include carbon credits and government finances. As far as India is concerned it has taken a stand it will continue to be a low-carbon economy and its primary focus is on adaptation,with specific niches for mitigation

The other item on the agenda would be to draw out a framework of sustainable economic activity as suggested by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The objective of this is to move away from the highly technical fiscal parameters that G-20 is engaged in such as capital to risk weighted assets ratio,fair value assessments (FAVs) etc and create sustainable economic framework which is not legally binding and can be understood by the common man. As far as low income countries are concerned,the problem of enhancing their financial access is to be discussed.

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