Finance minister, CBRT chief head to Brazil for G-20 meet

TÜRKİYE’S top economy officials are heading to Brazil to attend the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting of the G-20 group of the world’s largest economies.

Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek will depart for Sao Paulo today and will be accompanied by Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) Governor Fatih Karahan, according to a report by Anadolu Agency (AA).

The meetings focused on economic policies, inequalities, and sustainable development will bring together finance ministers, deputy ministers, presidents, and vice presidents of G-20 central banks.

During the gathering that will run through Friday, Şimşek will hold multiple bilateral meetings with his counterparts, AA reported.

It will mark the first joint trip since Karahan was appointed central bank governor on Feb. 3 following the resignation of Hafize Gaye Erkan, who said she needed to protect her family from what she called a media smear campaign.

Karahan’s first monetary policy committee meeting last week saw the central bank leave its key interest rate steady at 45%. Still, the bank said the policy stance would be tightened if a significant and persistent deterioration in the inflation outlook is anticipated.

The bank has lifted its one-week repo rate by 3,650 points since June after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won reelection and initiated a reversal toward more conventional monetary policymaking.

Karahan said it will maintain a tight policy stance until inflation, running at nearly 65%, drops to target, keeping a year-end forecast of 36%.

The Sao Paulo meeting agenda will focus on discussing global economic prospects and their implications for addressing inequalities, exploring models of international taxation, managing global debt, and devising mechanisms for financing sustainable development, according to host Brazil’s statement.

Brazil took over the G-20 presidency from India in December and will hold the 2024 leaders summit in Rio de Janeiro in November.

During the presidency, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Brazil would focus on reducing hunger and poverty, slowing climate change, and reforming global governance.

Lula has frequently criticized what he says are global governance failures by bodies like the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and has insisted on the need to expand the permanent U.N. Security Council.

He complained the institutions often lend money to countries to pay off their debt without any meaningful change.