Addressing the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ meeting being held virtually, Sitharaman urged for a need to evolve methodologies to plug funding gaps between multilateral institutions as low and middle income countries did not have enough resources to face these challenges on their own.
Sitharaman emphasized on addressing structural bottlenecks to reduce the pandemic’s scarring effects and building resilience.She suggested that the economic recovery measures be built around a long term vision.
Sitharaman pressed for a need for a pool creation so a future pandemic wouldn't make it worse for middle or low income countries.Emphasizing multilateral support, Sitharaman said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) needed to augment its capacity and mobilise global resources, especially as low and middle income countries had limited fiscal space to fund health and climate issue related matters.The Finance Minister said that it was crucial to address the gaps in global pandemic preparedness and said that the work of the G20 Joint Finance and Health Task Force should progress in that direction.However, Sitharaman pointed out that India prioritized spend and allocated $29 billion towards health infrastructure mission, where health insurance was assured for the poor and for the low income groups.