On Wednesday 13 October 2021, the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBGs) met for their fourth official meeting under the Italian G20 Presidency. The meeting was organised in Washington on the occasion of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - World Bank Group (WBG) Annual Meetings.
On Wednesday 13 October 2021, the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBGs) met for their fourth official meeting under the Italian G20 Presidency. The meeting was organised in Washington on the occasion of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - World Bank Group (WBG) Annual Meetings.
The result of their discussions is detailed in the official Communiqué, issued at the end of the meeting.
Ministers and Governors recognised that global recovery is continuing at a solid pace, mostly due to the roll out of vaccines and the continued policy support. Nonetheless, the recovery remains highly divergent across and within countries and exposed to risks, thus the Members have reaffirmed their willingness to continue sustaining the recovery, avoiding any premature withdrawal of support measures. This, by using all available tools for as long as required, in particular to support the most impacted, such as women, youth and informal and low-skilled workers and remove inequalities.
The G20 Finance Track remains determined to bring the pandemic under control everywhere as soon as possible, and welcomed efforts towards pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPR). While recognising the role of COVID-19 immunisation as a global public good, Ministers and Governors will strive to help address the bottlenecks and shortages of COVID-19 tools in low- and middle-income countries over the coming months, reaffirming their commitment to ensuring safe, equitable and affordable access to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics. They look forward to discussing concrete proposals at the Joint G20 Finance and Health Ministers' meeting on 29 October to strengthen future pandemic PPR and improve international governance, financing and coordination between global health and finance policy makers.
After the historic agreement reached in July on the key components of the two pillars on the reallocation of profits of multinational enterprises and an effective global minimum tax, the Membership endorsed the final political agreement to address the tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the economy and establish a more stable and fairer international tax system.
The G20 agreed to coordinate their efforts to tackle climate change and protect the environment, as well as to promote transitions towards greener, more prosperous and inclusive economies and societies. Following up on the July 2021 engagement on climate action, Ministers and Governors urged different G20 work streams to act in synergy to deepen the analysis of the economic and distributional impact of mitigation policies and develop the most appropriate policy mix to move towards low-greenhouse gas emission economies. Such mix should include investment in sustainable infrastructure and innovative technologies, as well as fiscal, market and regulatory tools, including carbon pricing mechanisms, to support clean energy transitions.
In this context, sustainable finance remains crucial for promoting the transition towards greener economies and societies, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement. Ministers and Governors endorsed the G20 Sustainable Finance Roadmap – prepared by the Sustainable Finance Working Group. The Roadmap is a multi-year action-oriented document that will inform the broader G20 agenda on climate and sustainability in the years to come.
The support to vulnerable countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic has always been central in the G20 agenda since the outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020. Following the USD 650 billion new general Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation implemented by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last August, Ministers and Governors welcomed the measures to enhance transparency and accountability in the reporting and use of SDRs and appreciated the recent progress by the IMF towards allowing members to voluntarily channel a share of their allocated SDRs to help vulnerable countries. While working on the implementation of the significant scaling up of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust's lending capacity and calling for further loan and subsidy contributions from countries able to do so, Ministers and Governors asked the IMF to establish a new Resilience and Sustainability Trust to provide affordable long-term financing to help low-income countries, small developing states, and vulnerable middle-income countries to reduce risks to prospective balance of payment stability, including those stemming from pandemics and climate change.
Ministers and Governors welcomed the recent progress on the Common Framework for debt treatment beyond the DSSI and committed to step up efforts to implementing it in a timely, orderly and coordinated manner. These enhancements would give more certainty to debtor countries and facilitate the IMF and Multilateral Development Banks' quick provision of financial support.
Ministers and Governors also remained committed to a cooperative approach aimed at ensuring that the financial sector provides adequate support to the recovery while preserving financial stability. The Membership confirmed its commitment to a timely and effective implementation of the G20 Roadmap to enhance cross-border payments, welcoming the progress reported against milestones set for 2021. They also reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing digital financial inclusion of vulnerable and underserved segments of society, including micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), carrying forward the work of the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) and implementing the G20 2020 Financial Inclusion Action Plan. In this regard, they endorsed the G20 Menu of Policy Options for digital financial literacy and financial consumer and MSME protection "Enhancing digital financial inclusion beyond the COVID-19 crisis", with the aim to provide a guide for policymakers in their efforts to lay the ground for new financial inclusion strategies in the post-pandemic world.
