The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday interacted with the co-chairs of the G20 High Level Independent Panel (HLIP), which was set up in January this year for financing the global commons for pandemic preparedness and response.

The panel was tasked to assess the current financing systems and propose viable solutions for the longer term that would help countries manage future epidemics which have adverse consequences. It has been tasked to identify the gaps in the financing system for the global commons for pandemic prevention, surveillance, preparedness and response. The actionable solutions that are to be proposed by this panel would have to optimally leverage resources from the public, private and philanthropic sectors and the international financial institutions.

At the virtual meeting with the co-chairs— Tharman Shanmugaratnam, former deputy prime minister and minister for finance, Singapore, Lawrence Summers, former US Treasury Secretary and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala former finance and foreign minister Nigeria—-Sitharaman discussed the panel’s work which will be presented during the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in July.

Also read: Nirmala Sitharaman backs 6-month extension for Debt Service Suspension initiative

Sitharaman shared India’s preparedness and response to Covid-19 and highlighted the slew of measures undertaken by the government in strengthening the health system and supporting the Indian economy in the fight against the pandemic.

The Covid-19 pandemic has created a global health crisis, which is leading to economic and social crises across the world. Despite swift health and economic responses by countries, the human, economic and social costs remain unprecedented in recent history. As the risk of other future health challenges is high, the crisis highlighted the need for broad-based global effort to improve prevention, surveillance, preparedness and response.

It is in this backdrop that the Italian G20 Presidency, in line with the final declaration of the 2020 G20 Riyadh summit summit, decided to integrate the lessons learned from the current pandemic in the design of future national and international policies, as part of the update of the G20 action plan in 2021. In this context, the Italian G20 Presidency decided to set up the HLIP in January this year.

comment COMMENT NOW