G20 More Upbeat About Global Economy But Risks Remain

By Author: b20coalition
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On the sidelines of the IMF-WB Spring Meetings, April 17- 19, 2015 G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bankers assembled in Washington DC for their second meeting under Turkish G20 Presidency.

The meeting started on April 16th with the first session on “Global Economy and Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth”. After this, a joint G20 – Low Income Developing Countries Ministerial Working Dinner was held to enable a free and open discussion among the participating countries. At the same time, G20 Bank Governors concentrated on the “uncertainty and volatility” at another working dinner.In the morning of April 17th, a joint G20/IMFC meeting was held on the IMF 2010 Quota and Governance Reform. After this session, G20 Ministers and Governors discussed the scope for boosting investment in G20 countries via concrete and ambitious investment strategies. The meeting concluded with short working sessions on financial regulation and the international tax agenda.

In the communique issued at the end of the meeting the finance officials said that risks to the global economy had decreased because of improved ...
... growth prospects in rich nations but cautioned that factors such as exchange rate volatility, geopolitical tensions and low inflation posed challenges. The ministers and bank governors also expressed concern about weakness in emerging markets.

“"Risks to the global economy are more balanced since we last met,"said the ministers and bankers in their statement. "Near-term prospects in advanced economies, notably the euro area and Japan, have improved recently, while the U.S. and UK continue to record solid growth, which could support a stronger global recovery."
"Nonetheless, there are important challenges, including volatility in exchange rates and prolonged low inflation, sustained internal and external imbalances, high public debt, and geopolitical tensions," the Group of 20 said.

The situation regarding Greece was not mentioned in the communique and Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said that the formal discussions did not include the challenges posed by Greek debt.
However, concern over whether the Greek government could reach a settlement with its European Union and International Monetary Fund lenders in time to meet their obligations cast a shadow over the G20 talks.

The B20 Coalition brings together leading independent Business Federations from G20 economies and advocates on behalf of more than 6.7 million companies worldwide.