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G20 finance chiefs agree to battle food insecurity, funding for vulnerable countries
The third G20 meeting of finance chiefs, while it did not produce a communiqué, has made some headway in agreeing to tackle the growing food and energy crises.
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Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati (second left) and Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo (third right) attend the third G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting on July 15, 2022 in Nusa Dua, Bali. (ANTARA FOTO/Nyoman Budhiana)
Despite falling short of issuing a formal communiqué due to conflicting views over the Ukraine war, the Group of 20 finance chiefs have produced some fundamental agreements to tame global inflation and growing food supply shortages that pose risks to all countries.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said all G20 finance chiefs had agreed that intervention and policies were needed to correct the ongoing food supply disruption to prevent a deeper crisis.
“Trade [restrictions] and protectionism should be eliminated in order for us to be able to address or create or facilitate the flow of food [supplies] from the production side [...] to the country that needs it,” Sri Mulyani said at press briefing on Saturday, after closing the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) Meeting in Bali.
Read also: G20 finance chiefs urged to focus on global recovery goals; formal communique unlikely
The third FMCBG meeting came after a raucous second round in Washington, D.C., that saw finance ministers walk out, led by the United States, in protest over Russia’s presence at the forum.
Amid a backdrop of the worsening food and energy crises and recession fears among both developed and developing countries, the FMCBG meeting in Bali saw more gestures toward collaboration among ministers and zero walkouts.
The chorus of condemnation against Russia, however, remains loud within the multilateral forum. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland have stated that Russia “has no place” at the meetings and that the two countries would hold Moscow responsible for “war crimes” in Ukraine.
