G20 meeting on financial inclusion begins in Kolkata

In Kolkata,the first meeting of the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) Working Group of G20 under the Finance Track of India’s G20 Presidency began with a symposium through an engaging session on the role of digital public infrastructure to augment digital financial services. The State Bank of India, GTX, UIDAI and Nabard, among others, took part in the symposium highlighting India’s digital innovations for advancing financial inclusion.Delegates of G20 visited the stalls in the symposium and discussed digital innovations and steps that showcased innovations of digital inclusion of the masses on Monday. The Centre, in an effort to make it a pan-Indian event, had chosen 40 locations as venues for the G20 meetings

According to G20 India’s statement, the working group would discuss ways to improve financial system infrastructure, pursue policies conducive to harnessing emerging technologies, facilitating remittance flows and reducing the cost of remittance transfers, financial literacy and consumer protection, digital financial literacy and bridging the digital divide, among others. Chanchal Sarkar, economic advisor, department of economic affairs, said the main purpose of the meeting is to ensure access and usage to the unbanked and left out. It would provide opportunities for higher income and growth, which would help in the next stage of economic development. Sarkar said that reducing remittance cost was a core area of interest among G20 leaders. “They are working to reduce the cost and a target has been set to bring it down to 3 per cent by 2027,” he added.