At the BRICS finance chiefs’ meeting in Jaipur, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra highlighted the role of central banks in maintaining price and financial system stability while advancing cross-border payments and digital currency cooperation.
Sanjay Malhotra used the BRICS finance chiefs’ meeting in Jaipur to underline the central bank’s core job: keeping prices and the financial system stable while working with peers to build more resilient payments and regulatory networks, according to a social media post from the Reserve Bank of India.
The RBI governor said cooperation between central banks was essential for a financial system that is resilient, efficient and inclusive. He also welcomed progress by BRICS workstreams on information security, fintech, cross-border payments, sustainable finance, capacity building and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement, as the meeting was co-chaired by India’s finance minister and Malhotra on August 12 and 13.
His remarks fit a broader message he has been delivering in recent months. In June, Business Standard reported that Malhotra warned policymakers to stay alert to both external and domestic risks, while stressing the need to strengthen the economy’s defences and preserve public confidence through fair conduct and better customer experience.
He has also pointed to the pressure that supply shocks can place on inflation and the importance of preventing those shocks from feeding into a more persistent rise in prices. More recently, he said BRICS countries were examining ways to make cross-border payments cheaper and faster, including through links between payment systems and central bank digital currencies, although those ideas remain under discussion. He added that India already trades in local currencies with several countries, with memoranda of understanding signed with the central banks of the UAE, Mauritius, Maldives and Indonesia to encourage importers and exporters to use them, and more agreements are in the pipeline.
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