Ukraine torpedoes G20 policymakers’ statement

“China stated that the G20 FMCBG (Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors) meeting is not the right forum to discuss geopolitical issues,” said the third G20 FMCBG Outcome Document and Chair’s Summary, which was released late on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Russia dissociated itself from the status of the document.

“Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed that it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy, constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity, and elevating financial stability risks,” the document said.

“There were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions. Recognizing that the G20 is not the forum to resolve security issues, we acknowledge that security issues can have significant consequences for the global economy,” it added.

India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the chair statement was issued as there was still no consensus among members on a common language on the Russia-Ukraine war.

“Our position since February has been that we have derived the statement from Bali, the leaders’ statement that was arrived at in the summit. The language given in the Bali leaders’ summit, we don’t have the mandate to change that. So, it must be left to the leaders during the summit in September to take a call on that,” she said.

India, the chair of the G20 presidency this year, has maintained strategic neutrality on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The FMCBG meetings were organized into five thematic sessions covering Global Economy and Global Health, Sustainable Finance and Infrastructure, International Financial Architecture, International Taxation, and Financial Sector and Financial Inclusion.

The outcome of this year’s third FMCBG meeting will be discussed at the 18th Heads of State and Government Summit of the G20 that will take place in September 2023 in New Delhi, India.

Meanwhile, there were intense discussions on global debt and vulnerabilities at the 17-18 July meeting, Sitharaman said at a press conference after its completion. “We saw a definitive movement on developed countries delivering on a pledge to give $100 billion for climate finance this year,” she said. “China’s response to debt restructuring appeared encouraging today,” she said, adding that the G20, however, still didn’t have a common language on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

Sitharaman said several G20 member countries have condemned Russia for stopping the passage of grains from Ukraine through the Black Sea.

“Several members have condemned it, saying that it shouldn’t have happened. (Grains) passing through the Black Sea shouldn’t have been stopped or suspended,” she said. She added that high inflation is a major concern for all of G20, which discussed food and energy security.

The FMCBG meeting was attended by the finance ministers of Australia, Canada, China, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, US, and India.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das said there is a perceptible change in thinking around Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). “It is now recognized by a large number of nations, both G20 members as well as nations that are not members, that CBDC is an important aspect which needs to be looked at more seriously. As a part of the FMCBG deliberations, the work done by the various agencies was taken on-board.”

“Specifically, with regards to cross-border payments, it was also recognized that there is great potential for CBDC to facilitate easier, smoother, seamless cross-border payments, and there is a need to take this agenda forward. So it is a work-in-progress,” he added.

Updated: 19 Jul 2023, 12:06 AM IST