G20 financial leaders push for coronavirus joint action
RIYADH — Financial leaders from the Group of 20 major economies held a virtual meeting on Tuesday to discuss ways to coordinate their efforts in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
During their meeting, the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors sought to agree on a roadmap to implement the commitments made at the virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit that was held on March 26, 2020 under the Saudi G20 Presidency, which are the following.
• Delivering a joint G20 Action Plan in Response to COVID-19, which will outline the individual and collective actions that G20 has taken and will be taking to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, while also highlighting the needed medium-term measures to support the global economy during and after this phase.
• Addressing the risk of debt vulnerabilities in low-income countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing these countries to focus their efforts on fighting this global challenge.
• Working with relevant international organizations to swiftly deliver the appropriate international financial assistance to emerging markets and developing countries to cope with the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Working with the Financial Stability Board (FSB) in its capacity to coordinate regulatory and supervisory measures taken by countries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The financial leaders also discussed the role of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank Group and other international financial institutions to deploy all available resources and explore additional measures needed to support emerging markets and developing economies amid the COVID-19 pandemic, including by supporting financial stability and alleviating liquidity constraints.
They welcomed the Word Bank’s readiness to deploy as much as $160 billion over the next 15 months to support its member countries to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
They also tasked the relevant working groups to deliver on the roadmap by April 15, 2020 when they hold another virtual meeting. They agreed to continue to discuss and take urgent actions needed to address the global challenge presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. — Agencies