Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is in the United States for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, stated that Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have expressed interest in accepting the RuPay payment system.
Sitharaman also stated that India is in talks with various countries to make RuPay acceptable in their countries.

“We communicate with a number of nations. Plans to recognize Rupay in their respective nations have already been made public by Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.” According to ANI, Sitharaman made the comments during a fireside discussion with renowned economist Eshwar Prasad at the Brookings Institute think tank.

Additionally, she continued, “the BHIM app, the NCPI (National Payments Corporation of India), and the UPI (Unified Payments Interface) are all being developed in such a way that their systems in their respective countries, no matter how reliable they may be, can communicate with our system. This interoperability by itself will strengthen Indian expertise in those countries”.

Meanwhile, amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Sitharaman urged developed countries to accept responsibility for the global consequences of their policy decisions.

According to ANI, the minister chastised developed countries for imposing sanctions on nations that are simply carrying out their moral and democratic obligations to their people.

“It’s crystal clear that international collaboration is more important then ever. In the short term, advanced nations must accept responsibility for the global consequences of their political and economic policy decisions and put safety nets in place, rather than imposing sanctions on nations that are simply carrying out their moral and democratic obligations to their people.”The minister continued.

These statements are made while India continues to have the fastest-growing major economy in the world. In its July 2022 report, the IMF predicted that India’s GDP will expand by 7.4%.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) predicted 7% GDP growth for the fiscal year 2022–2023; the IMF’s most recent prediction for India is lower. India will still be the leading economy with the fastest growth rate notwithstanding the downturn.

As India prepares to take over the G-20 presidency, Sitharaman stated that “India is ready to do whatever it can to facilitate dialogue, discussions, and decisions on these critical issues.”

She also emphasized several factors that support India’s growth story, such as digitization and financial inclusion, MSME strengthening, and an improvement in the quality of government spending, with a focus on building projects and specialized social security assistance for the poor.

Featured Image Credit