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G20 Finance Chiefs Adopt First Communique Under South Africa Presidency

A rare unified statement affirms multilateral cooperation across central bank independence, WTO reform alongside debt transparency, omitting direct references to tariffs or specific conflicts.

Duncan Pieterse (L), South African Treasury director General, Enoch Godongwana (2nd L) South Africa Minister of Finance, Lars Klingbeil (3rd L) Geerman Minister of Finance, Ajay Banga (2nd R), president of the World Bank Group and Yasser Sobhi (R), Egypt Vice Minister of Finance, take part in a panel discussion at the G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies and Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' Meetings, at the Capital hotel in Zimbali, Durban on July 17, 2025. (Photo by RAJESH JANTILAL / AFP) (Photo by RAJESH JANTILAL/AFP via Getty Images)
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Canada's Minister of Finance Francois-Philippe Champagne speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada May 29, 2025. REUTERS/Blair Gable/File Photo
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Overview

  • For the first time under South Africa’s presidency, finance ministers and central bank governors agreed on a communique committing to international policy cooperation.
  • The statement underscores central bank autonomy as essential for maintaining price stability and calls for meaningful reform of the World Trade Organization.
  • Signatories pledged to enhance debt transparency and strengthen the G20 Common Framework for orderly sovereign debt restructuring in lower-income nations.
  • The United States was represented by junior officials in the absence of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who will oversee plans to streamline G20 working groups when Washington assumes the presidency.
  • The communique avoids explicit mention of President Trump’s tariffs, climate change or specific conflicts, signaling ongoing divisions over the forum’s agenda.