Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman participated in the 1st BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting under the BRICS Russian Chairmanship.

The agenda of the meeting included discussions on the outcomes of G20 Saudi Presidency in 2020, a digital platform to encourage infrastructure investments and expansion of the membership of the New Development Bank.

Highlights

    • It was noted that G20 Action Plan in response to COVID-19 has provided broad guidance to navigate a collective global response to the crisis.

    • Additionally, the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative ensured immediate support to address the liquidity needs of low-income countries.

    • On the ongoing international efforts to find a solution to the issue of taxation of digital economy, Sitharaman said that a consensus solution will play an important role in ensuring fairness, equity and sustainability of tax systems

    • The BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors also discussed expansion of the membership of the New Development Bank (NDB).

    • The Finance Minister supported the expansion of the membership of NDB and emphasised the importance of regional balance.

    • Smt. Sitharaman also shared her perspective on Russia’s initiative to develop an integrated Digital Platform (Data Room).

About BRICS

BRICS is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, ranked among the world's fastest-growing emerging market economies for years, thanks to low labor costs, favorable demographics and abundant natural resources at a time of a global commodities boom.

It was the Russian side that initiated the creation of BRICS. On 20 September 2006, the first BRICS Ministerial Meeting was held at the proposal of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the margins of a UN General Assembly Session in New York. Foreign ministers of Russia, Brazil and China and the Indian Defence Minister took part in the meeting. They expressed their interest in expanding multilateral cooperation.

On the Russian initiative on 16 June 2009, Yekaterinburg hosted the first BRIC Summit. BRIC Leaders issued a joint statement after the Summit. The document set forth the goals of BRIC “to promote dialogue and cooperation among our countries in an incremental, proactive, pragmatic, open and transparent way. The dialogue and cooperation of the BRIC countries is conducive not only to serving common interests of emerging market economies and developing countries, but also to building a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity.” The document outlined a common perception of ways to cope with the global financial and economic crisis. 

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants. The views expressed here are personal.)