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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), launched in 2014, has emerged as the biggest instrument of bringing financial inclusion to the country.

Delivering the inaugural address at Kautilya Economic Conclave 2023, the minister said benefits under more than 50 government schemes are being directly transferred into the beneficiaries’ bank accounts, and PMJDY has played an important role.

She also said when the scheme was launched, a certain section of people had made “snide” remarks saying public sector banks would be under pressure as these are zero balance accounts.

However, these accounts have a balance of more than Rs 2 lakh crore, Sitharaman said.

In her address, she also spoke elaborately on climate financing and its associated challenges.

The minister also said that multilateral institutions including Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) have become less effective in the current global situation.

Sitharaman also highlighted the challenges posed by global terror and stressed that investors and businesses will have to consider such factors while making investment decisions.

She further said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is conscious of the debt situation and has undertaken fiscal management to ensure that the coming generation is not burdened.