Observing that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have estimated India to be the fastest-growing major economy in 2023, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said the Indian economy will stay on course and is likely to grow at 7 per cent in 2022-23.

Sitharaman was attending the Plenary Meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee at the IMF Headquarters here on Friday to discuss the priorities identified in the managing director’s global policy agenda.

In her intervention, Sitharaman highlighted that a conducive domestic policy environment, along with the government’s focus on structural reforms, has kept domestic economic activity in India robust.

She underlined the learning from the pandemic that digitalisation, especially Digital Public Infrastructure, is a positive catalyst for the global economy and how India’s DPI has revolutionised access and created a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem, the finance ministry said in a series of tweets.

Referring to the global sovereign debt roundtable, the finance minister said it has demonstrated a constructive way forward with multi-stakeholder cooperation for other vulnerable countries, and India is pleased to be a part of the team that provided solutions for Sri Lanka and Surinam.

Sitharaman reiterated the commitment to exploring solutions through stakeholder engagements to pressing global challenges, which disproportionately harm the poorest and most vulnerable.

She also urged all the G20 members to continue to support multilateral efforts and emphasised engagement in positive dialogue to fight the challenge of global fragmentation.

Crypto assets

Issues related to crypto assets require immediate attention and the response of the G20 has to ensure that they do not lose any potential benefits while protecting economies from harm, Sitharaman said.

Sitharaman was part of a brainstorming session on “Macrofinancial Implications of Crypto Assets” with G20 finance ministers and central bank governors at the IMF’s headquarters on Friday.

India currently holds the rotating annual presidency of G20 countries.

Issues related to crypto have emerged as a major point of discussion among G20 countries and there is unanimity among member nations about the urgency to regulate this sector.

The brainstorming session was attended by global experts on this issue.

In her remarks, Sitharaman said the G20 acknowledges the work of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) in bringing out key elements of policy and regulatory framework.

She also said a synthesis paper, which would integrate macroeconomic and regulatory perspectives of crypto assets, is required.

The minister noted that there was consensus among G20 members to have a globally coordinated policy response on crypto assets that takes into consideration the full range of risks, including those specific to emerging markets and developing economies.

Earlier this week, Sitharaman had said that India’s G20 Presidency aims to develop a common framework for all countries to deal with risks associated with crypto currencies.

The last year episode of FTX’s bankruptcy, and its spat with Binance triggered a huge sell-off in the market and reduced liquidity.

This event made the world realise the vulnerability of this asset class as they do not have any underlying value.

Zepto picks Ramesh Bafna as CFO

Quick commerce start-up Zepto has appointed Ramesh Bafna as its new chief financial officer, the company said on Saturday.

Bafna was the chief financial officer of fashion and lifestyle e-commerce firm Myntra.

“To take Zepto public in 2-3 years, we believe we need an incredible CFO and Ramesh is the right person for the job,” Zepto co-founder and CEO Aadit Palicha said.

Zepto said that Bafna’s appointment signifies major milestones in its growth and profitability metrics, where the company is now focusing on building an industry-leading finance team for its next phase of scale.

Bafna will take over the role in mid-May from Jitendra Nagpal who moved out of the company recently.

Bafna earlier served as the CFO at the wealth tech company, CoinSwitch Kuber. He has also spent a decade at IT services major Wipro.