India hosted a Meeting of BRICS Finance and Central Bank Deputies virtually here today and was co-Chaired by Shri. Tarun Bajaj, Secretary Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, and Dr. Michael Patra, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India. Other participants included BRICS Finance and Central Bank Deputies of Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa.

India assumed the BRICS Chairship in 2021, at a time when BRICS is celebrating its 15^th anniversary. Under the theme BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS Cooperation, India’s approach is focused on strengthening collaboration through Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus.

This was the first meeting on the BRICS Financial Cooperation under India Chairship in 2021. During the meeting, India shared priorities under financial cooperation agenda   and issues for discussion during 2021 such as Global Economic Outlook and Response to COVID-19, Social Infrastructure Financing and Use of Digital Technologies, New Development Bank (NDB) Activities, Fintech for SME and Financial Inclusion, BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), among others.

BRICS financial cooperation priorities shape pandemic response, contingency support and digital finance for inclusion under India chairship. BRICS financial cooperation under India's chairship concentrates on coordinated responses to the global economic outlook and COVID 19, including emphasis on the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement for mutual liquidity support, scaling New Development Bank activities for development finance, and promoting social infrastructure financing alongside fintech and digital technologies to advance SME support and financial inclusion.