Fintech players told to engage more with govt

Mumbai, September 20

Advertisement

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday nudged the fintech industry to break the distance barrier and have more engagements with the government and its agencies to enhance trust.

CUT DOWN DISTANCE

I don’t want to sound cliche, but distance brings distrust. So, cut down the distance, engage more with the government. Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister

FOLLOW THE RULES

The RBI is not interested in penalising operators or stifling innovation but wants them to follow the rules. Shaktikanta Das, RBI Guv

Sitharaman was replying to a question by Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chairman, Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2022 Advisory Board, who wanted to know how to ensure trust among industry, regulators and the government.

“I don’t want to sound cliche, but distance brings distrust. So, cut the distance down, have greater engagement with the government,” the minister said.

Sitharaman further said everyone in the government, whether the Prime Minister, ministers or think-tank Niti Aayog, is constantly available for engagement, discussions, and exchange of ideas. “So greater the engagement, greater 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,” she said.

To a query on the role of the central bank and the Finance Ministry on the proposed digital currency, Sitharaman said the RBI will come out with the digital currency.