New Delhi, Feb 24 : Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on Friday said that India has created a highly secure, trusted, and efficient public digital infrastructure in its digital payments ecosystem over the past few years.

Addressing the first meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors under India’s G20 Presidency is taking place in Bengaluru, he said it has radically transformed governance, financial inclusion, and ease of living in the country.

“Our digital payments ecosystem has been developed as a free public good”, he said.

Modi said that, since the meeting is taking place in Bengaluru, the technology capital of India the participants can get first-hand experience of how Indian consumers have embraced digital payments.

Taking note of the challenges faced by the world in the present day, the Prime Minister said that the participants of today’s meeting are representing the leadership of global finance and economy at a time when the world is facing serious economic difficulties.

Highlighting the growing dominance of technology in the world of finance, the Prime Minister recalled how digital payments enabled contactless and seamless transactions during the pandemic.

He urged the member participants to explore and harness the power of technology while developing standards to regulate its possible risk of destabilization and misuse in digital finance.

Recalling the covid pandemic and its after-effects on the global economy he said that the Covid pandemic had delivered a once-a-century blow to the global economy and many countries especially developing economies are still coping with its after-effects.

He added that due to this the world has witnessed a rise in geo-political tensions, disruptions in global supply chains, rise in the prices of food and energy security.

“It is now up to the custodians of the leading economies and monetary systems of the world to bring back stability, confidence, and growth to the global economy,” he said.

The Prime Minister urged the members to focus their discussions on the most vulnerable citizens of the world and stressed that global economic leadership can win back the confidence of the world only by creating an inclusive agenda.

“The theme of our G20 Presidency promotes this inclusive vision – One Earth, One Family, One Future”, the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister observed that progress on Sustainable Development Goals seems to be slowing down even though the world population has crossed 8 billion.

He emphasized the need to strengthen Multilateral Development Banks for meeting global challenges like climate change and high debt levels.

The Prime Minister informed about the new system created during India’s G-20 Presidency that allows G20 guests to use India’s path-breaking digital payments platform, UPI.

“Examples like UPI can be templates for many other countries too. We would be happy to share our experience with the world and the G20 can be a vehicle for this”, he said.