As G20 president, India will leave a mark on world for years to come: IMF MD Georgieva

Washington: India is headed to lead the G20 countries from the position of "strength" and will leave a mark on the world for years to come during its next year's presidency, Managing Director of the IMF Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday.

India will assume the Presidency of the G20 for one year from December 1, 2022. Under its Presidency, India is expected to host over 200 meetings of the G20 across the country. The G20 Leaders' Summit at the level of Heads of State/Government is scheduled to be held on 9 and 10 September 2023 in New Delhi.

Speaking to reporters here on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Georgieva said, "India deserves to be called a bright spot on this otherwise darker horizon because it has been a fast growing economy, even during this difficult times, but most importantly, this growth is underpinned by structural reforms."

Prominent among the structural reforms are the "remarkable success" in digitalisation in India, from digital ID to providing all services and support on the basis of digital access," she said. "This has indeed been a huge factor for India's success," she said. And so, the country is now stepping into taking the lead on G20 from that position of strength, which makes me strongly believe that we will see India leaving a mark on the world for years to come during next year's presidency (of G20), Georgieva said.

And what could that mark be and in what areas, she asked. It could be the area of digitalisation, including digital money. We know that we need regulation of crypto, we know that we need to get some more attention to cross border payments. We are proposing public investment in the infrastructure of a cross border payment platform, she said.

It can be in the area of bringing more fairness in our institutions. Next year we need to complete the 16th quarter review. India has been a very strong voice for the fund to be financially strong and also to be a strong institution on the basis of fair representation of our members, she said.

It could be in renewable energy. What is not so well known, you know it, that India has really leapfrogged in terms of solar and other forms of renewable energy. So, I very much look forward to next year and I'm sure that it would make the people of India, the whole nearly 1.4 billion of them very proud, said the IMF Managing Director.

Meanwhile, warning that inflation threatens to become a runaway train,'' the managing director of the International Monetary Fund urged policymakers to keep up the fight against rising prices even it means more pain at a time of extraordinary economic turmoil.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, the IMF's Kristaline Georgieva said that the world economy has been hit by one shock after another? the coronavirus pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a resurgence of inflation.

But reining in rising prices should take priority, she said. If we do not restore price stability, we will undermine prospects for growth,'' she said, adding: We cannot possibly allow inflation to become a runaway train bad for growth, bad for people, bad especially for poor people.?

The Federal Reserve and other central banks have been raising interest rates to tame inflation. On Thursday, the U.S. reported that inflations accelerated in September, with the cost of housing and other necessities intensifying pressure on Americans. Consumer prices rose 8.2 per cent compared with September of last year.