MPW 2023: Here’s how Ashima Goyal is batting for reforms

In the midst of G20 meetings during India’s presidency, Ashima Goyal, then chairing a Task Force on Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), got a chance to visit Mysore Palace. Goyal, one of three external members on the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy committee, was reminded of Tipu Sultan, the 18th century ruler of Mysore who had allied with France. “This is the city with a history of global involvement,” she recalls saying then. She believes with the G20 presidency passing from Indonesia to India, now to Brazil, and then to South Africa—all emerging markets—MDB reforms can be brought to fruition. “There is scope for MDBs to trigger private investments,” says Goyal, Emeritus Professor at the Mumbai-headquartered Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research.