FM Arun Jaitley embarks on 7-day official visit to Canada,US

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley embark a 7-day official(October 3 to October 10) visit to Canada and the US to attend the annual meetings of World Bank and IMF and hold talks with global investors.

He is accompanied by Dr. Urijit Patel, Governor RBI, Mr. Shaktikanta Das, Secretary Economic Affairs, Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor and other officials

FM Arun Jaitley arrived in Canada on three-day official visit 

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley arrived here on a three-day visit during which he reviewed progress made in trade ties with Canada, including in the proposed comprehensive economic partnership agreement. Mr.Jaitley arrived in Toronto on the first leg of his 7-day official visit that would also take him to the United States.

• In Canada, he met top official and review progress made in the proposed Comprehensive Economic partnership agreement (CEPA) and Foreign Investment and Protection Agreement (FIPA).
• Mr.Jaitley would also hold meeting with foreign investors.During his US visit, Jaitley would attend the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
• Commerce and Trade Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was in Canada last week and had announced that the both countries were committed to deepen bilateral economic ties.

Canada:

• Capital: Ottawa.
• Currency: Canadian Dollar.
• Prime Minister: Justin Trudeau.

FM Arun Jaitley arrived in USA on four-day official visit 

The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley arrived in Washington, D.C., USA after a successful visit to Canada.

2016 IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings

Arun Jaitley along with Shri Shaktikanta Das, Secretary (EA) participated in the 2016 IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings Plenary on October 7, 2016 at the historic DAR Constitution Hall, Washington DC.

• Jaitley highlighted the various steps like leveraging digital IDs (Aadhar), expanding access networks (PM Jan-DhanYojana) and digitizing financial benefit  transfers (including Insurance and Pension schemes), taken by the Government of India
• He also held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Sri Lanka, China,and Iran. The discussions focused on the areas of mutual co-operation and commonality of positions in various multilateral fora.
• He
• held a meeting with the World Bank Group President, Dr. Jim Yong Kim, where he acknowledged the long-standing and mutually beneficial relationship between the World Bank Group and India
• He has said that 80% of the 240 million new accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana are now functional with cash balances.

Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley chaired the Commonwealth Finance Ministers’ Meeting

Jaitley, who is on an official visit to the US, chaired the Commonwealth Finance Minister’s meeting at the IMF headquarters.

• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley discussed international taxation issues in the backdrop of the Panama papers leak with Commonwealth Finance Ministers to devise a common strategy.
• During this meeting the Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of Baroda signed an MoU on Commonwealth Small States Trade Finance Facility. This finance facility is expected to make available up to US $100 million of incremental trade finance over a period of three years. During the meeting, as part of the voluntary contributions, India also pledged £1,022,100 to Commonwealth Fund for technical cooperation.
• The Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley also chaired the Governing Council Meeting of the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA). While addressing the gathering, the FM announced that the CRA was now operational.
• BRICS member central banks are fully ready to carry out the transactions. Members welcomed the proposal to formalize the setting up of a network of central banks research units that would support the working of BRICS CRA. At the meeting, the Finance Minister also extended invitation to attend BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting to be held in Goa.

BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement operational  

BRICS’ contingent reserve arrangement (CRA) is now operational in India to deal with any short-term balance of payments pressures the grouping’s member nations face.

About Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA):

• CRA was established in 2015 by BRICS member nations Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa .
• It is a framework for the provision of support through liquidity and precautionary instruments in response to actual or potential short-term balance of payments pressures.

USA :

• Capital: Washington, D.C.
• Currency : USA Dollar
• President: Barack Obama