Economy: “So, as we look at India, given the pandemic and the recovery from it, and also where we stand today, we see the decade before us… 2030 as a very robust decade where India would definitely be one of the fastest growing economies.”
Digital banks: “The Reserve Bank of India has also been very nimble about setting up ‘digital only’ NBFCs. Now, we are in the process of setting up digital banks as well, not one but 75 of them this year.”
Bad loans: “Bad loans and provisioning were taxing. We have to keep infusing money into banks… We have amalgamated several of them.”
Crypto tax: “We haven’t said this is a currency. We haven’t said this has an intrinsic value. Certain operations are taxable for the sovereign, that is why we have taxed.”
Risks associated with crypto: “I think the biggest risk for all countries across the board will be the money laundering aspect and also the aspect of currency being used for financing terror.”
Crypto regulation: “Regulation using technology is the only answer. Regulation using technology will have to be adept, that it has to be not behind the curve, but be sure that it is on the top of it. And that’s not possible.”
Startups: “1 in 4 startups belong to the fintech world and they are now increasingly becoming unicorns, also 20 unicorns belonging to fintech emerged within the last 2-3 years.”
Digital adoption rate: “If I use 2019 data, the digital adoption rate in India is about 85 per cent. But globally the same year it was only somewhere near 64 per cent. So the pandemic time actually helped us to test and prove for ourselves that it is simple to use, common people can use it, and adoption actually was proven.”
Digital infrastructure framework: “We’ve as a government spent a lot of time over the last decade trying to build the digital infrastructure framework within which we had ensured data security, data privacy elements and also created the Indian stack.”
She also talked about innovations like open API platform, AADHAAR and UPI among others and said that private sector has also stepped in to ensure that this stack is utilised for common public good.
Sitharaman met the first female chief of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Mary Schapiro and discussed her vision of developing GIFT cities as centres for attracting global capital.
She also met the Financial Stability Board or FSB chair Klaas Knot and discussed issues pertaining to cryptocurrency.
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