Nirmala to attend G-20 FMs' meeting in Japan

New Delhi: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will attend the two-day meeting of G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Japan beginning June 8, said a government official. This will be the first overseas visit of Sitharaman as finance minister. Last week she took charge as the first full-time woman finance minister of the country. Besides Sitharaman, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das is also likely to attend the meeting at Fukuoka in Japan.

Among other things, the meeting over the weekend is likely to focus on risks and challenges being faced by the global economy, investment in infrastructure and international taxation. The deliberations at the meeting would be followed by the G-20 Leaders' Summit scheduled on June 28-29 at Osaka.

The meeting of the finance ministers would also deliberate on issues like increasing protectionism and its implication on global growth and trade. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut its forecast for global growth from 3.6 per cent last year to 3.3 per cent in 2019.