RIAD / WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Finance officials from the Group of 20 major economies on Saturday pledged to continue to use “all available policy tools” to combat the coronavirus pandemic and strengthen the global economy, warning that the outlook remains highly uncertain .
Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan wears a protective mask while attending a virtual meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, July 18, 2020. G20 Saudi Arabia / Leaflet via REUTERS
G20 finance ministers and central bankers, in a statement released after a virtual meeting on Saturday, said the global economy would rebound as economies gradually reopened, but said more action was needed to ensure growth.
“We are determined to continue to use all available policy tools to safeguard people’s lives, jobs and incomes, support the global economic recovery and enhance the resilience of the financial system, while protecting against risks to the economy. come down, “they said in a statement after the meeting ended. .
COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, has infected more than 14.14 million people and killed 596,576, according to a Reuters count. The United States, the world’s largest economy, tops the list of deaths.
Radical closings aimed at stopping the spread of the disease have caused a massive disruption to the world economy and are affecting the world’s poorest countries the most.
G20 financial officials said 42 of the world’s 73 poorest countries had requested a freeze on official bilateral debt payments until the end of the year, in the amount of about $ 5.3 billion in deferred payments.
Reflecting concerns raised by the World Bank that China, a member of the G20 and the largest creditor in developing countries, was not fully participating, the officials urged all official bilateral creditors to implement the Suspension Initiative of the Debt (DSSI) in a complete and transparent way.
They also “strongly encouraged” private creditors to participate on comparable terms, and said they would consider extending the debt suspension in the second half of 2020.
Private creditors had not received any formal requests from countries to suspend debt service under the G20 initiative, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) said on Wednesday, before Saturday’s meeting.
“We encourage private sector investors to participate in this, but we must be very careful not to interfere with private deals,” Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said at a press conference at the end of the meeting.
Saudi Arabia is the current chair of the G20.
Officials also reaffirmed their commitment to settling differences on how to tax digital services and reach a comprehensive and agreed solution this year.
They said they expected to see proposals on international tax reform by October, when they meet again.
“The fair taxation of international companies and large digital groups is more urgent than ever,” German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said after the meeting.
Report by Andrea Shalal in Washington, Davide Barbuscia in Dubai, Marwa Rashad in Riyadh, Raya Jalabi in London, Christian Kraemer in Berlin and Tom Sims in Frankfurt; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Frances Kerry
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