G20 to cover taxation reform
VENICE: The finance chiefs of the Group of 20 major economies was to start their two-day meeting in Italy yesterday, with talks likely to focus on efforts to address an increasingly uneven economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and international taxation reform.
It was to be the first in-person meeting of its kind since the pandemic accelerated early last year.
Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen were expected to be among the attendees. Some of the participants were to join virtually, according to Italy, which holds the rotating presidency this year.
During the talks in the canal city of Venice, G20 finance ministers and central bank governors were to “progress their discussions on issues related to international economy and global health, and on the efforts to push forward the economic recovery and promoting a more sustainable growth”, the Italian government said.
Just days before the meeting, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) called on the G20 to take “urgent” action to beef up vaccine supplies.
“The world is facing a worsening two-track recovery, driven by dramatic differences in vaccine availability, infection rates, and the ability to provide policy support,” IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said, noting that while the US and China are picking up, many countries are falling “further behind”.
The G20 economies are also expected to affirm their progress in helping developing countries address unsustainable public debt burdens through a newly created framework aiming to offer support beyond a temporary payment relief programme launched in May last year.
The so-called common framework for debt restructuring seeks to ensure broad participation of creditors with “fair” burden-sharing, meaning it includes not only the Paris Club of traditional creditor nations but also other G20 countries such as China, the world’s largest official bilateral creditor.
The United States has called on Beijing to increase its participation in the initiatives, criticising its “highly opaque” lending activity for allowing some Chinese entities to be excluded from debt relief efforts because they are classified as commercial lenders rather than “official” bilateral creditors.
On international tax reform, the participants were likely to express support
for a plan to introduce a global minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15% and other new rules aimed at tackling tax avoidance by multinational firms, including digital giants.
The plan was announced on July 1
as an agreement of 130 nations and regions, including all G-20 countries, during negotiations coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Later, Peru also joined in backing the move.