New Delhi: The independent panel set up by the G20 to strengthen multilateral development institutions will be ready with its first report by end of June for it to be presented at the next meeting of G20 finance and central bank governors meeting in Ahmedabad next month, said N.K. Singh, who co-chairs the panel.
Singh told reporters after a consultation with civil society organisation in the capital that the panel, which he co-chairs with former US treasury secretary Lawrence Summers, has decided to give two reports.
The panel is set to make tangible recommendations to optimise the balance sheet strength of multilateral development banks and to step up their lending capacity in a big way. The panel is mandated to make recommendations on reforming these institutions in terms of vision, funding requirements, modalities of funding and better coherence in their working.
"We are expected to sign off the first report on 30 June which will be in time to be presented at the third meeting of the finance ministers and central bank governors in Ahmedabad on 17th and 18th (of July). That report will go to the summit in the 9th and 10th of September under the Indian presidency," said Singh.
The heads of state and government summit of the G20 group is a major event under a presidency, leading to a leaders' declaration, which captures the work carried out over the year through various ministerial and other meetings.
The second report of the panel, depending upon the response from the Ahmedabad meeting and what the summit has to say, will entail more intensive work. It is likely to be ready for the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank in Marrakesh in the middle of October. It will also be synchronised with the fourth and final meeting of the finance ministers and central bank governors under Indian presidency, Singh said.
Strengthening the financing capability of the multilateral institutions is key as it helps them to make a meaningful reduction in poverty, achieve shared prosperity and fund global public goods. It will also enable them to become relevant to the growth and development needs of all developing countries.
The panel has been mandated to prepare a roadmap for an updated multilateral development bank ecosystem for the 21st century. The idea is to make these institutions financially more robust to be able to deal with challenges like climate action, energy transition and future pandemics that impinge on growth and development.
