Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], February 23 (ANI): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday met her Japanese counterpart Shunichi Suzuki, ahead of the first G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting.

According to a tweet posted by the official handle of the finance ministry, the ministers exchanged views on priorities under the G20 FinanceTrack 2023.

"Both ministers looked forward to close cooperation between Japan as G7 Presidency and India as G20 Presidency on strengthening of multilateral development banks (MDBs), debt-related issues, financing cities of tomorrow and coordinated policy for crypto assets," the finance ministry said in a tweet.

The Japanese Minister also assured his whole-hearted support to India during the G20 India's Presidency.

The second Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meeting under India's G20 Presidency is underway in Bengaluru. The meeting began on Wednesday.

The deputies' meet will be followed by the first G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors two-day meeting, scheduled from tomorrow in the same city. The meeting will be jointly chaired by Sitharaman and RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.

The meeting will be spread over three sessions, covering issues such as strengthening multilateral development banks to address shared global challenges of the 21st century, financing for resilient, inclusive, and sustainable 'cities of tomorrow', leveraging Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for advancing financial inclusion and productivity gains, an official release said earlier.

The sessions will also cover issues related to the global economy, global health, and international taxation, and discussions in the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting are intended to provide a clear mandate for the various workstreams of the G20 Finance Track in 2023. (ANI)