G-7 finance officials fear longterm growth may be subdued
Finance officials from seven rich countries warned that long term growth could remain subdued and that steps need to be taken to make the global economy work for everyone.
Inclusive growth that benefits all was a major theme in the final statement issued by the Group of 7 finance ministers finishing a two-day meeting Saturday in Bari, Italy.
They also called for a renewed common effort against cybercrime, a timely message in the wake of Friday’s ransom ware attacks in dozens of countries.
The finance meeting paves the way for a meeting of national leader in Sicily May 26-26. The G7 countries are Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, the United States, and the United Kingdom; the European Union also attends the informal forum.
Officials from the Group of Seven are also taking the opportunity to hear more about the Trump administration’s economic proposals from U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Italy, the host country for the informal forum this year, wants the meeting to produce separate statements about fairer growth and fighting tax evasion.
Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said that Saturday’s morning session on cybercrime was “unfortunately very timely,” an apparent reference to the wave of ransomware attacks reported Friday in dozens of countries in which files were locked and money demanded to unlock them.
Mnuchin is taking the opportunity to lay out the Trump administration’s views on trade. During his presidential campaign, Trump charged that past administrations had failed to take a tough stand on enforcing trade agreements and this failure had cost millions of good-paying factory jobs and resulted in an enormous U.S. trade deficit.
The gathering in a 13th-century seaside fortress in the southern Italian town of Bari is paving the way for a meeting of national leaders in Taormina, Sicily May 26-27.
The G-7 countries are Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, the United States and U.K., with EU representatives also attending.