Bangalore - The First G20 FMCBG meeting under the G20 Indian Presidency on 24th-25th February will see the participation of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G20 members, invitee members, and heads of International Organisations. In total, there will be 72 delegations attending the meeting.

G20 finance ministers and central bank governors will discuss debt troubles in developing economies, cryptocurrencies, and global inflationary pressures at a meeting later this week, Indian officials said on Tuesday.

The Feb. 22-25 meeting at the Nandi Hills summer retreat near Bengaluru is the first major event of India's G20 presidency. The meeting straddles the Feb. 24 anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the war is likely to be high on the agenda. "Today's era is not for war. Democracy, dialogue, and diplomacy are the way forward," Anurag Thakur, India's information minister, told a news conference after welcoming delegates to the meeting which ends on Saturday.

The Indian Presidency has designed the meeting agenda in a manner that can foster a meaningful exchange of ideas among Ministers and Governors on pragmatic and meaningful approaches to address some of the key global economic issues.

The meeting will be spread over three sessions on February 24th-25th, covering issues such as strengthening multilateral development banks to address shared global challenges of the 21st century, financing for resilient, inclusive, and sustainable ‘cities of tomorrow’, leveraging Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for advancing financial inclusion and productivity gains. The sessions will also cover issues related to the global economy, global health, and international taxation.

The discussions at the G20 FMCBG meeting are intended to provide a clear mandate for the various workstreams of the G20 Finance Track 2023.

On the sidelines of these meetings, a number of side events have been planned for the visiting Ministers, Governors, Deputies, and other delegates, on subjects such as Digital Public Infrastructure, Policy Perspectives on Crypto Assets, and the role of National Payment Systems in Cross Border Payments.

A special event titled Walk the Talk: Policy in Action is also being organized, during which the Ministers and Governors will visit the Indian Institute of Science (IIS) to engage with tech-innovators and entrepreneurs who are working on affordable and scalable solutions to some of the challenges being faced by G20 member countries.