Nirmala Sitharaman at the IMF Spring Meeting on Monday (Image: Twitter)
Speaking at the IMF seminar, Sitharaman said the biggest risk for any country is the aspect of its currency being used for money laundering and terrorism financing.
Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday (US time) that the biggest threat posed by cryptocurrencies is their potential to help finance terrorism, and that digital coins could also be used for money laundering. The Finance Minister was addressing a seminar at the ongoing spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). During the discussion, Sitharaman highlighted how India's startup ecosystem has blossomed over the past few years. Finance Minister Lee is visiting the United States to attend the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting.
“Overall, the biggest risk for all countries will be aspects of the currency being used for money laundering and terrorism financing,” Sitharaman said while speaking at a seminar at the IMF spring meeting.
“I think regulation using technology is the only answer. Regulation using technology must be very proficient, not behind, but on top of it. And that's impossible. If any country thinks they can afford it. It has to be done across the board,” Sitharaman said during her speech.
The Treasury Secretary arrived in Washington on Monday to attend the meeting. She also participated in a high-level panel discussion on ‘Money at a Crossroad’ hosted by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. “We are at a crossroads as to how fast, how far, and at what rate we will go, but I see it as a one-way street where digital money will play a bigger role,” she said in her opening remarks.
“As a government, we have spent a lot of time over the last 10 years to build a digital infrastructure framework that ensures we bring data security to the data security element and create an ‘IndiaStack’,” Sitharaman said. , adding that this helped create Aadhaar, GST platform and UPI.
The Finance Minister said he also highlighted the government's role in building digital infrastructure for India over the last decade and highlighted India's use of digital technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Using 2019 data, India’s digital adoption rate is around 85%. However, globally that same year, the rate was only 64%. So the pandemic period has helped us test and prove that it is actually easy to use, common people can use it and it has actually proven adoption,” Sitharaman said.
On this day, the Treasury Secretary also attended an event at the Atlantic Council, a think tank headquartered in Washington, DC. She will also participate in bilateral meetings with several countries, including Indonesia, South Korea, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
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