'US looking forward to support India's G20 presidency': Janet Yellen

The US looks forward to India’s G20 presidency that will be "indispensable" for global economic recovery, said Janet Yellen, the US secretary of the treasury.

The 2022 G20 Summit will take place under the presidency of Indonesia in Bali between November 15 and 16. India will take over the presidency after the summit and head the group in 2023.

"In three weeks, India will assume the helm of the G20 at an uncertain time for the global economy. We look forward to supporting India’s G20 presidency. A successful Indian presidency is indispensable to our global economic recovery and sustained progress on our deepest problems," Yellen said on Friday at an event at a Microsoft facility in New Delhi.

She added that the US-India ties are "stronger than ever before".

Ahead of the 2022 G20 Summit, Yellen highlighted four global objectives that need focus. The objectives were, addressing debt distress, promoting climate action, evolving the multilateral development banks, and embracing and shaping the changing economy.

"Today, nearly 60 per cent of low-income countries are at high risk of or are in debt distress. This over-indebtedness poses a risk to stability and growth at a time when financial pressures are mounting. Without timely and orderly debt relief, we worry that many developing countries may face severe economic fallout," she said.

She suggested that India's presidency can accelerate global coordination for debt restructuring.

Yellen added that climate change cannot be fought by any country alone and demands coordinated action from all countries.

Highlighting that global institutions must "more effectively" tackle global challenges, she said, "The world faces a growing array of increasingly complex and interlinked challenges that do not respect national boundaries. This includes climate change, pandemics, fragility and conflict. Yet, our existing multilateral development finance architecture is currently unable to respond to these global challenges with the necessary speed and scale."

Yellen also applauded India's digital economy. She said that India's rapid digital adoption has allowed it to achieve "stunning success" in the efforts towards financial inclusion. However, on a global level, more efforts are required to establish a digital cross-border payments system.

"...economic integration in the 21st century requires a modern international payments system. Cross-border payments should be cheaper than they are today. They should also be faster, more transparent, and easier to access," Yellen said.