Russia's war means G-20 Finance Meeting ends without communiqué
The world's top finance chiefs failed to agree on a consensus statement at meetings in Bengaluru due to an impasse over language on Russia's war in Ukraine.
Host India issued a chair's summary, as opposed to a traditional communiqué, in a backward step after a joint statement had been agreed by all Group of 20 members at November's leaders' summit in Bali, Indonesia. Russia and China disagreed with the two paragraphs on the war that had been cleared by all participants in November.
"We jointly condemn the Russian attack on Ukraine — here there was very great common ground, however, with the exception of the very ambivalent Chinese," German Finance Minister Christian Lindner told reporters after the statement's release.
"Here we can see a shift in the Chinese attitude, which is very regrettable," with officials from the strategic partner of Russia arguing that discussions only should involve "technical issues of international financial architecture," he said.
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Participants agreed on much of the other material in the document, including views on a still-uncertain global economic outlook. All agreed that while economic conditions had modestly improved since finance ministers and central bankers last met in October, there were still significant downside risks including "elevated inflation."
There was also unanimity of language on debt — something that wasn't assured coming into the gathering.
Nirmala Sitharaman, host country India's finance minister, said in the final press conference that having "no divergences" in the statement on debt issues marked an achievement after talks had been "very stressful."
Hours earlier, an eighth draft of a communiqué obtained by Bloomberg News showed lingering disagreement both on lines about the war as well as a section on debt restructuring and obligations of various kinds of creditors.
The elevation of debt restructuring as one of the top priorities of the talks dovetailed with India's positioning as a voice for all developing countries, often collectively referred to as the Global South. The final statement also cited the need for multilateral development bank reform — a cause championed by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, among others.
Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, tried to look for positives from Saturday's meeting of a sovereign debt roundtable that has brought public and private creditors together with a baseline commitment to find some common ground.
Georgieva called China's participation "constructive" in an interview with Bloomberg Television's Haslinda Amin, adding that those officials had a responsibility as a big lender to be a central part of negotiations.
Debt Talks
The IMF chief urged a memorandum of understanding on Zambia, the first African nation to default, as soon as possible. She said the country has done "an amazing job" reforming the economy and deserved progress in talks with creditors.
The Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable brings together borrowers, creditors, and representatives from the official and financial sectors to discuss the issues impeding timely debt restructuring processes. Look forward to our first full talks at WB-IMF spring meetings in April. https://t.co/2lhLU4UjJw — Kristalina Georgieva (@KGeorgieva)February 25, 2023
"We welcome the conclusion of debt treatment for Chad and call for a swift conclusion of the work on debt treatment for Zambia and Ethiopia," the chair summary said. Participants were hopeful of quick formation of an official creditor committee for Ghana and urged a "swift resolution to Sri Lanka's debt situation."
Leaders also highlighted the ongoing fight against inflation as a top priority throughout the talks. Yellen told Bloomberg News in an interview Saturday that "inflation continues to be a problem."
Georgieva separately urged central banks to "stay the course" for a return to price stability.
Disclaimer: This article first appeared on Bloomberg, and is published by special syndication arrangement.
