FM Nirmala Sitharaman meets IMF’s Gita Gopinath, discusses wide range of issues

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday met First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Gita Gopinath, and discussed a range of issues, including the upcoming India G20 Presidency.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the IMF-WB Spring Meetings 2022 in Washington, the Finance Ministry said in a tweet.

"They had a discussion on a wide range of issues, including upcoming India #G20Presidency and the need for furthering the engagement of @FinMinIndia and @IMFNews," the Finance Ministry said.

Union Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman met Ms @GitaGopinath, FDMD of @IMFNews, on the sidelines of the IMF-WB Spring Meetings 2022, in Washington D.C. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/L3PS1KsWDC

— Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) April 21, 2022

India will hold the Presidency of the G20 from December 1, 2022, to November 30, 2023, culminating with the G20 Summit in India in 2023. G20 is the premier forum for international economic cooperation that plays an important role in global economic governance.

Earlier this week, IMF cut India's growth forecast to 8.2 per cent for the current fiscal from 9 per cent estimated in January, citing the impact of high oil prices on consumer demand and private investments.

In 2021, India registered a growth rate of 8.9 per cent. By 2023, India is estimated to grow at 6.9 per cent, the IMF said.

The global growth has been projected at 3.6 per cent in 2022, down from 6.1 per cent in 2021, the IMF said in its annual World Economic Outlook report.