Bill Gates calls on RBI Governor; discusses financial inclusion, microfinance

Mumbai, Feb 28 (PTI) Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Tuesday met Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das and discussed various issues including financial inclusion, payment systems, microfinance and digital lending among others.

“Mr.@BillGates visited RBI Mumbai today and held wide ranging discussions with Governor @DasShaktikanta #RBI #rbitoday #rbigovernor #shaktikantadas #BillGates,” RBI said in a tweet.

Gates Foundation pursues a lot of activity in India including promotion of financial inclusion, health sector and climate change.

Billionaire businessman Gates is also engaged in large-scale philanthropy activities.

“Had an excellent meeting with @BillGates on financial inclusion, payment systems, microfinance and digital lending, etc,” Das said in another tweet.

In a recent article, Gates said, climate change and global health are inextricably linked.

“Hotter temperatures will make poverty reduction harder by increasing food insecurity and the prevalence of infectious diseases and diverting resources away from those who need them the most. It’s a vicious cycle,” he had said.

“The poorer a community is, the more vulnerable it is to climate change. And the more impacted a community is by extreme weather events, the more entrenched in poverty it becomes. To break the cycle, we need to make progress on both problems at the same time,” he had said.