15/04/2016 Press Release
Communiqué: G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors MeetingWashington D.C.
April 14-15, 2016
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Originally published on Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China Website
1. The global recovery continues and the financial markets have recovered most of the ground lost earlier in the year since our February meeting in Shanghai. However, growth remains modest and uneven, and downside risks and uncertainties to the global outlook persist against the backdrop of continued financial volatility, challenges faced by commodity exporters and low inflation. Geopolitical conflicts, terrorism, refugee flows, and the shock of a potential UK exit from the European Union also complicate the global economic environment.
2. We welcome policy actions being taken by a number of G20 members to support growth and stabilize markets. We reiterate our commitments to using all policy tools – monetary, fiscal and structural – individually and collectively to foster confidence and strengthen growth. Monetary policy will continue to support economic activity and ensure price stability, consistent with central banks’ mandates, but monetary policy alone cannot lead to balanced growth. Our fiscal strategies aim to support the economy and we will use fiscal policy flexibly to strengthen growth, job creation and confidence, while enhancing resilience and ensuring debt as a share of GDP is on a sustainable path.
We are also making tax policy and public expenditure more growth-friendly, including by prioritizing high-quality investment. Furthermore, we will continue to explore policy options, tailored to country circumstances, that the G20 countries may undertake as necessary to support growth and respond to potential risks. We reiterate that excess volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates can have adverse implications for economic and financial stability. We will consult closely on exchange markets. We reaffirm our previous exchange rate commitments, including that we will refrain from competitive devaluations and we will not target our exchange rates for competitive purposes. We will resist all forms of protectionism. We will carefully calibrate and clearly communicate our macroeconomic and structural policy actions to reduce policy uncertainty, minimize negative spillovers and promote transparency.
3. We have made concrete progress in our enhanced structural reform agenda with support of the OECD, the IMF and other IOs. We have identified and agreed to the priority areas, based on which by July we will further develop and agree upon a set of guiding principles as a reference guide to national reform actions. We will benefit from the priority areas and guiding principles that will be applied in a flexible way to allow members to account for their specific national circumstances. We look forward to proposals for a set of indicators to help monitor and assess our efforts and progress with structural reforms and challenges, taking into account diversity of country circumstances for endorsement at our July meeting.
We agreed on the approach to combine our investment strategies with the growth strategies, and remain committed to the effective and timely implementation of our growth strategies. We are reviewing and updating our structural and macroeconomic policies in our growth strategies, including through an enhanced peer review process, to ensure they remain relevant to evolving economic conditions and consistent with the collective growth ambition set by the Brisbane Summit. We will explore further steps to revitalize global trade, lift quality investment and boost innovation as engines for growth. We remain committed to promoting greater inclusiveness and reducing excessive global imbalances.
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