WASHINGTON: Finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies ended their two-day meeting in Washington on Thursday without adopting a joint statement or other outcome documents.
At a press conference after the meeting, Central Bank of Brazil Governor Roberto Campos Neto said that a strong dollar “is always a problem and can generate reaction from policymakers around the world.”
He also expressed concerns over the possibility of interest rates staying at high levels amid stubborn inflation. Due to persistent inflationary pressure in the United States and elsewhere, the likelihood of interest rates remaining high for a long time will increase, he warned.
Meanwhile, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said at a press conference that Japan, the United States and South Korea were able to communicate closely on foreign exchange market developments at their meeting held on the sidelines of the G20 meeting.
The three countries shared “serious concerns” of Japan and South Korea about the recent sharp weakening of the yen and the won, in a joint statement adopted at the first meeting of their finance ministers Wednesday.
The statement was a “landmark achievement,” Suzuki said at the press conference. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda also represented Japan at the G20 meeting.
Brazil, which chaired the G20 meeting, focused on discussions on ways to secure funds for climate change measures and reform multilateral development banks.
“An outcome document was not planned from the beginning,” according to a senior Japanese Finance Ministry official.
At the previous meeting in February, G20 finance ministers and top central bankers gave up on adopting a joint statement as they were unable to bridge the gaps over geopolitical issues, such as the situations in Ukraine and Gaza.
At the latest G20 meeting, Suzuki called for actively supporting developing countries, including by providing guarantees to make it easier for them to obtain loans from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for measures to fight climate change and other challenges.
The minister said he condemned Russia in the strongest terms for continuing aggression against Ukraine.
Participants at the G20 meeting made no direct references to the dollar’s appreciation against the yen, the won and many other currencies.
Meanwhile, some expressed concerns about outflows of funds to the United States amid high U.S. interest rates, according to Suzuki.
JIJI Press