JAKARTA, Feb 19 — Russia and China watered down a G20 finance leaders’ statement on geopolitical risks to the global economy as a contentious meeting ended yesterday, deleting a reference to “current” tensions as financial markets fretted over the prospect of war in Ukraine.
Other sources familiar with the meeting said China and Russia had objected to the reference to “current tensions” in an earlier draft communique, as well as disagreements on debt restructuring for poor countries and carbon pricing. The final communique failed to endorse International Monetary Fund and World Bank proposals for an immediate debt service suspension for poor countries that seek restructurings and an expansion to include some middle-income countries.
World Bank President David Malpass said at the Munich Security Conference after the finance meeting that he was concerned the G20 “is not identifying the steps forward” to deal with a massive and growing debt overhang in developing countries. On other subjects, the final draft of the G20 text pledged to use “all available policy tools to address the impacts of the pandemic,” while warning that future policy space was likely to be “narrower and uneven.”