G20 ministers and central bank governors push for 1.8pc growth spurt
G20 nations including the United States and China said that they could overcome geopolitical tensions and financial risks to achieve extra combined growth of 1.8 per cent, adding trillions of dollars to the world economy.
G20 nations including the United States and China said yesterday that they could overcome geopolitical tensions and financial risks to achieve extra combined growth of 1.8 per cent, adding trillions of dollars to the world economy.
Their two-day meeting in Cairns was focused on developing a set of policies to reach an ambitious goal of raising the total GDP of the 20 major world economies by 2 per cent above current projections over the next five years.
Finance ministers and central bank governors, including US Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen, want to take their plan to the G20 leaders' summit in Brisbane in November.
In a communiqué, they said that the 1,000 measures agreed so far - including accelerating infrastructure investment and financial reform and encouraging free trade - could add 1.8 per cent to GDP by 2018 and create millions of jobs.
But more reforms were needed to meet the 2 per cent goal, agreed in Sydney earlier this year.
"In the lead up to the Brisbane summit, we will continue to identify a series of additional measures to meet our collective growth ambition," they said.
"We will hold each other to account in implementing these policy commitments."
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde hailed what she called "significant progress" despite increased geopolitical tensions since the ministers last met in February.
"Despite the global recovery continuing, the pace of growth remains low and uneven, in part given increased geopolitical tensions and risks of financial market turmoil," she said.
US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew noted that the world economy was facing headwinds, pointing to disappointing growth in Europe and Japan and a slowdown in emerging economies, including China.
