Shaktikanta Das made the pitch while addressing a seminar on the global economy organized by the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in Mumbai. “A bigger and stronger IMF that is capable of managing the levels of country risks assumes crucial importance,” Das said.

The support of the IMF to a country is based on the quota size of the nation and keeping that in mind, RBI Governor pitched for “the sixteenth general review of quotas and its attendant requirements, including governance reform needs to be completed expeditiously”.

Crisis in South Asia

The development comes as some of India’s neighbors are going through financial meltdowns and have knocked on the doors of the IMF. While the global body has approved grants to Sri Lanka, countries like Pakistan are still waiting for the money amid the acute financial crisis. The executive board of IMF has recently approved a $3 billion bail-out package for Pakistan.

Even Bangladesh, whose economy was doing pretty well approached IMF and received grants of around $4.7 billion in January 2023. The move was seen as a precaution to depleting forex reserves, fall in production and exports, etc.

Previously, officials from the government have shared concerns that IMF delaying financial aid to South Asian countries is pushing them towards taking help from China and as we all know, Chinese help comes at a cost of sovereignty.

During his address, Shaktikanta Das touched on several other topics like the financial implications of green transition and how there is an urgent need to increase green capital flow to emerging economies. He also mentioned the need to develop a global debt data sharing platform.

Updated: 11 Aug 2023, 06:27 PM IST