Spurring growth centre stage as finance chiefs meet in Istanbul

Tuesday, 10 February 2015 00:07 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Finance ministers and central bankers face a tough task coordinating action to spur global growth at G20 meetings this week, with major economies running at different speeds and monetary policies diverging. Concern over the ability of the United States to sustain the global economy as most of the world slows will be high on the agenda as the Group of 20 leading economies hold talks in Istanbul on Monday and Tuesday.

The meetings come as Greece casts a new shadow over Europe, cheap oil plays havoc with inflation and growth forecasts and a strengthening dollar threatens emerging economies. “There is a lot at stake,” IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a blog post on Friday. “Without action, we could see the global economic supertanker continuing to be stuck in the shallow waters of sub-par growth and meagre job creation.” Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan told an Institute of International Finance (IIF) meeting on Sunday that tackling sluggish global growth and giving low income nations more voice will be among the priorities for Turkey’s G20 presidency. The former will be easier said than done. US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said last week the United States could not be “the sole engine of growth” and a senior U.S. official said Washington’s message going into the meetings would again be that Europe is not doing enough. “Kick-starting global growth will be front and centre” at the G20 meetings, Canadian Finance Minister Joe Oliver said last week, citing the stalled euro zone, slowdowns in China and India and geopolitical crises in Ukraine, Iraq and Syria as key risks. “Though America is carrying the world economy at the moment, that is simply not sustainable,” he added. Germany is likely to argue that its rising domestic demand and plans to increase public spending show Europe’s largest economy is doing what it can, according to European sources familiar with the G20 agenda.