As questions mount about the G20’s effectiveness in tackling the world’s big problems, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said differences prevented finance ministers and central bankers from issuing a formal statement, but that the group had a “strong consensus » on the need to address a worsening food security crisis. Instead, host Indonesia will issue a presidential statement. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said most issues were agreed by all members except for specific statements on the war in Ukraine. He described it as the “best result” the team could have achieved in this meeting. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Western countries have imposed tough sanctions against Russia, which it says is conducting a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Other G20 nations, including China, India and South Africa, were more muted in their response. “This is a challenging time because Russia is part of the G20 and does not agree with the rest of us on how to characterize the war,” Yellen said, but stressed that the disagreement should not hinder progress on pressing global issues. Russia’s finance minister attended the meeting in person while his deputy attended in person. Ukraine’s finance minister essentially spoke at the meeting where he called for “stronger targeted sanctions.” Indonesia’s Sri Muliani said that while she presided over a fractured G20 she was “quite overwhelmed” by the war in Ukraine, all members agreed that food insecurity required special attention and called for the removal of trade protection measures that were blocking the flow of food supplies. The G20 will set up a joint forum between finance and agriculture ministers to address the food issue and lubricate supply. A similar forum has been set up for finance and health ministers for pandemic preparedness. Analysts said the failure to agree on a communique reflected the weakness of the once powerful economic group. “We are at a dead end moment in the global economy with the G20 paralyzed by Putin’s war and the G7 unable to lead on global public goods,” said Kevin Gallagher, head of the Center for Global Development Policy at Boston University. G20 members came together at the start of the pandemic, but initiatives to deal with the shock for heavily indebted poor countries have failed to produce significant results. Western countries, concerned about the lack of transparency in China’s borrowing, have been pressing Beijing to restructure its debt covenants and transform its role into “one that (contributes) to the country and not one of debt and slavery,” the ambassador said. USA in Japan Rahm. Emmanuel. But they were disappointed that Chinese officials did not attend the meetings in person, making sideline discussions impossible. Kristalina Georgieva, head of the International Monetary Fund, warned that more than 30% of emerging and developing countries – and a staggering 60% of low-income countries – are in or near trouble. read more “The debt situation is rapidly deteriorating and there should be a well-functioning mechanism to resolve the debt,” he said. Sri Mulyani said the G20 also encouraged further progress in implementing the Common Debt Management Framework beyond the debt service moratorium initiative in a timely, orderly and coordinated manner. He said there were discussions on how to make the framework more effective for countries in need. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Additional reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman in Nusa Dua and Leigh Thomas in Paris. Editing by William Mallard, Kanupriya Kapoor, Tom Hogue and William Mallard Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
