G-20 panel meeting in Varanasi to discuss inclusive growth

A two-day G-20 working group meeting, with inclusive global growth on top of the agenda, will get underway in Varanasi this week from March 28, an Indian official said on Sunday.

"In the forthcoming meeting in Varanasi, the G-20 Framework Working Group (FWG) will discuss the current global economic situation as well as deliberate on the policy options that countries can pursue to counter the important development challenges," said a Finance Ministry statement here.

"One important focus of this meeting will be to deliberate on the inclusive growth agenda of G-20 and to formulate a framework that will enable countries to help frame country specific inclusive growth policies," it said.

The Framework Working Group is one of the core groups of the G-20 - the group of 19 nations and the European Union that deliberates on global economic issues and other key developmental challenges.

The third meeting under the G-20 German presidency is being co-hosted by the Department of Economic Affairs and the Reserve Bank of India in Varanasi on March 28-29, the statement added.

The earlier two meetings under the German presidency were held in Berlin in December 2016 and Riyadh in February 2017.

India, along with Canada, has been co-chairing this group, and since the inception of the FWG in 2009, this is the fourth occasion India is hosting this meeting.

"The mandate of FWG is to deliberate on the challenges facing the global economy and the policy options that countries can use to address these challenges," the statement said.

Previously, India had hosted the G-20 FWG meetings at Neemrana in 2012, in Goa in 2014, and in Kerala in 2015.

--IANS

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