NEW DELHI:   Employment generation and equitable income distribution are our top priorities, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at the US-India Business Council’s India Ideas Summit, on Wednesday.

Since we have been able to lower it over the past several months, inflation is also a priority, though not a top one, she added. The Finance Minister noted that because India lacks the luxury of prioritising, efforts to address them must be made concurrently.

She also said during the summit that the government will examine how the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) operated in order to strengthen it.

While it is encouraging that South Africa, Indonesia, and India are all rising markets, we will be taking over the G-20 chair at a very difficult time. This is crucial because emerging economies have the potential to dominate the world economy over the next 50 to 60 years.

These are the economies that will provide you with both supply-side and demand-side responses. They will be the main subject of attention. We'll be announcing our focus (areas for the G20) soon, she promised.

A new Data Privacy Bill that addresses the concerns of stakeholders and is the result of consultations will be released soon. She continued, "The (IT) Minister has been working extremely hard and has promised us the new bill will be available shortly.

Finance Ministry Meet Today: Finance Ministry will today, September 7 hold a meeting with all stakeholders, including banks and officials of external affairs and commerce ministries, to discuss ways to promote cross-border trade in rupee instead of US dollar. The meeting, to be chaired by financial services secretary Sanjay Malhotra, is expected to see attendance from representatives of the Reserve Bank of India, IBA and industry bodies.

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