On April 14, 2020, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which assumes the 2020 G20 Presidency, organized a virtual meeting of the G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies with a view to making agreements on the substances of the G20 Action Plan on supporting the global economy through the Covid-19 pandemic before submitting it to the G20 Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting on April 15, as well as discussing other issues.
Virtual Meeting of G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies
At the meeting, the participants gave a high evaluation to the efforts of the G20 Working Group, in coordination with other G20 Working Groups and the international institutions, in drafting the G20 Action Plan; asserted that the Action Plan has a wide coverage from actions in the health sector, people’s well-being to supporting the economy, ensuring the systemic liquidity, financial stability, global supply chains, investments, as well as commitments on reducing the debt burdens for low-income countries,… The Action Plan is expected to be updated regularly and amended dependent on the developments of the pandemic and its impacts on the global economy.
Discussing the mitigation of debt burdens for low-income countries, the participants welcomed the joint idea of the IMF/the WB, and hoped for proper measures in accordance with the practical conditions of each country. Moreover, they agreed to strengthen the global financial security network with the IMF as the center, which has sufficient resources to ensure the liquidity and stability of the global financial system. The Meeting also spoke highly of the measures of the international institutions and the multi-lateral development banks to support countries to cope with the pandemic through the large-scale packages with simplified procedures and processes. The Meeting made agreements on the report of the Financial Stability Board on defining the gaps in the financial system due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the coordinated measures related to the management, supervision and inspection based on the lessons learnt from various countries.
Previously, at the Extraordinary Virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit on March 26, 2020, the G20 leaders agreed to assign the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to implement the Action Plan to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic and cooperate with the international institutions to accelerate the financial support. They also made agreements on enhancing the support for the healthcare sector, minimizing the impacts on the socio-economy and finance, preventing and handling with the disruptions in the global trading system, strengthening the international cooperation to restore the confidence and the global economic growth, as well as to bring the global economy back to a strong, sustainable and comprehensive growth.
Le Hang