The first meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and second meeting of Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) took place in Bengaluru from 22-25 February 2023. The members discussed various topics from the Russia-Ukraine war to cryptocurrencies. India holds the G20 presidency till November 2023. The group includes 19 countries and the European Union. Besides the permanent member, India’s special invitee guest countries are Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and UAE.
Here are 5 takeaways from G20 FMCBG meet held in Bengaluru, India
1. On the Russia-Ukraine issue, the group said that G20 is not the forum to resolve security issues and acknowledged that security issues can have significant consequences for the global economy.
2. The group tasked the Framework Working Group under the G20 Indian Presidency to work on macroeconomic scenarios, consequences and impacts of food and energy insecurity and their implications for the global economy and in policy settings.
3. The group tasked the International Financial Architecture Working Group to work with the Multilateral Development Banks (MDB) to create a G20 roadmap, for implementing the recommendations of the G20 Independent Review of MDBs Capital Adequacy Frameworks (CAF) based on updates from MDBs in Spring 2023. The group said that it looks forward to receiving the roadmap in the third meeting in 2023.
4. The group recognised the urgency to address debt vulnerabilities in lower and middle-income countries. The members welcomed the conclusion of the debt treatment of Chad and called for a swift conclusion of the work on debt treatment for Zambia and Ethiopia. It looks forward to the rapid formation of the official creditor committee for Ghana to work on the requested debt treatment and a swift resolution of Sri Lanka’s debt situation. The group tasked the International Financial Architecture Working Group to develop a G20 Note on the Global Debt Landscape in a fair and comprehensive manner.
5. The group said that it will take action to enable enhanced financing for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), including and beyond climate, in line with the G20 Sustainable Finance Roadmap. The members collectively asked the Sustainable Finance Working Group to develop an analytical framework for enabling finance for SDGs, with an initial focus on nature-related data and reporting and social impact investing, taking country circumstances into consideration.
6. The group called upon the Organisation on Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to conclude the work on the implementation packages concerning the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and amendments to the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). G20 looks forward to the FSB’s high-level recommendations for the supervision and regulation of stablecoins and crypto assets by their third meeting in 2023.