The first Finance and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting of the South African G20 Presidency has emphasised a need for multilateral cooperation in addressing global economic risks.
This is according to a Chairman’s Summary of the meeting held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) this week.
“[Members] acknowledged the need for evidence-based and comprehensive assessment of risks to growth and inflation, and for discussion of macroeconomic policy and cooperation, while respecting country-specific circumstances.
“[Members] emphasised the importance of strengthening multilateral cooperation to address existing and emerging risks to the global economy, safeguarding financial stability, and to further promote strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth and job creation,” the summary of the two-day meeting stated.
The meeting exchanged views on global economic developments – noting that although global economic growth has been subdued, “many parts of the world have shown resilience”.
Furthermore, the meeting also warned that “some upside risks could materialise”.
“However, growth patterns remain divergent across economies. Inflation has receded, supported by well-calibrated monetary policies and the unwinding of supply shocks, although progress has varied across countries.
“Discussions covered a diverse array of downside risks, such as ongoing conflicts and wars, geopolitical tensions, economic fragmentation and rising protectionism, disruptions to global supply chains, elevated public and private debt levels and high debt servicing costs, persistent inflation, climate change, and frequent extreme weather events.
“[Members] discussed that these risks may hinder the achievement of strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive economic growth,” the summary noted.
Sustainable Finance
The members of the finance track reaffirmed the G20’s efforts to implement the G20 Sustainable Finance Roadmap and welcomed efforts to mobilise climate financing.
“[The meeting] noted the development of high-level voluntary recommendations, that will build on previous work on transition plans, on how to incorporate adaptation and resilience considerations to facilitate informed decision making by financial institutions and corporations.
“[The meeting] discussed enhancing the availability and affordability of insurance, including reinsurance, which can play a significant role in managing the financial impact of natural catastrophes. [It also] looked forward to the development of practical recommendations to enable countries to address natural catastrophe insurance protection gaps in line with their own priorities,” the summary read.
The need to foster coherence in climate financing was also acknowledged.
“[The members] recognised the need…to foster greater complementarity and coherence amongst national development financing institutions, MDBs [Multilateral Development Banks], and vertical climate and environment funds – while accounting for their different mandates and governing bodies - as well as private financial institutions.
“Scaling up co-financing is essential for risk sharing of climate investments, especially for developing countries,” the summary said.
The meeting took place on 26 and 27 February and was addressed by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday.
In his address, the President emphasised the importance of the Group of 20 (G20) members working together to overcome unprecedented challenges, including slow and uneven growth, rising debt burdens, persistent poverty and inequality, and the existential threat of climate change.
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“We are not moving quickly enough or boldly enough to address these global challenges. We must collectively target a step-change in our efforts to improve the lives of all of our people and protect future generation,” he said at the time.
– SAnews.gov.za
