NEW DELHI: With protectionism taking a toll on the growth of the world economy and affecting many countries, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the ongoing trade wars have caused uncertainties and will ultimately impact the flow of capital, goods and services.
In Washington to attend the Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, the Finance Minister called for 'concerted action' to mitigate the disruption on account of synchronous slowdown and to invoke the spirit of multilateralism for global growth.
The 40th meetings of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) of the IMF are being held at this year's Annual Meetings.
Drawing the attention of major countries to the current economic issues, Sitharaman said the increased trade integration, geopolitical uncertainties, and high accumulated debt levels necessitate strong global coordination.
"We need not wait for the slowdown to become a crisis," she cautioned as per a Finance Ministry statement.
Sitharaman also led the Indian delegation to the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in which the discussions centred on international taxation and Stable coins.
On the discussions at the session regarding the work underway on developing a consensus solution on tax challenges arising from digitalisation, the Finance Minister stated that a unified approach to the nexus and profit allocation challenges is a promising one that merits serious attention.
"A solution that is simple to implement, simple to administer and simple to comply with is needed," the Minister said.
On the sidelines of the meetings, the Finance Minister held several bilateral meetings including with the first Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Russia Anton Siluanov.