China's Minister of Finance Lou Jiwei arrives for a press conference held at the close of the G20 | Ng Han Guan-Pool/Getty Images
G20 ready to take action to support economic growth
Finance ministers meeting in China express solidarity in limiting the wider impact of Brexit.
The Group of 20 pledged continued cooperation on global issues, including the aftermath of the U.K.’s Brexit vote and international financial reforms in a communiqué following their meeting in China this weekend.
Brexit was high on the agenda, with finance ministers saying the G20 is “well positioned to proactively address the potential economic and financial consequences stemming from the U.K. referendum,” adding they hoped to see Britain as a “close partner of the EU” in the future.
The G20 is a forum of 19 countries with leading economies, plus the European Union. Finance ministers and central bankers met in Chengdu, China, on July 23 and 24.
They also acknowledged in their statement on Sunday other important financial regulatory initiatives, including the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s work on the much-debated Basel III reforms on bank capital requirements and “bail-in” tools for failing lenders.
The ministers also called on countries to commit to the OECD framework on tax transparency and efforts to clamp down on tax avoidance strategies employed by certain companies.
Meanwhile, they noted the “negative impact” on trade and workers caused by the weak global economic recovery and highlighted problems in the steel sector, in particular.
Excess capacity in steel is a “global issue” which requires “collective responses,” the ministers said, and noted that subsidies and other government support can cause “market disruptions.”
The G20 statement also called on countries to bring the Paris Agreement on Climate Change into force “as soon as possible,” and reaffirmed the members’ commitment to phase out fossil fuel subsidies “that encourage wasteful consumption.”