The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday advised the Fintech Industry players to cut down distance and have greater engagement with the Government, says a PTI report.
“I do not want to sound cliche, but distance brings distrust. So cut the distance down and have greater engagements with the Government,” she said.
The Finance Minister was answering a question put by Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chairman, Global Fintech Fest 2022 (GFF) Advisory Board, at GFF 2022 in Mumbai.
Sitharaman said everyone in the government, — whether the Prime Minister, Ministers or the Think-Tank Niti Aayog — were readily available for engagement, discussions and exchange of ideas.
“Greater the engagement, the greater is the trust which gets built up. So I think, one sure shot way of retaining and building on trust is to keep the constant engagement going,” the Finance Minister suggested.
Sitharaman said there are opportunities for Fintech players to play the role in a sustainable financial environment, and take advantage of the specific opportunities in green finance — a financial arrangement for specific use of funds for environmentally sustainable development products.
To another question on the role of Reserve Bank and the Finance Ministry on the proposed digital currency, Sitharaman said the apex bank would come out with the RBI-driven digital currency.
She further said that RBI’s regulatory sandbox mechanism has provided a structured and institutionalized framework through which Fintech companies are able to test their new products, new innovations before scaling them. This has helped in testing it in a controlled environment and post that they are able to scale up rapidly so that the markets can benefit and they can accelerate the product innovations.
