U.K. to lead G7 talks on COVID recovery

LONDON • Britain will chair a meeting of finance chiefs from the Group of Seven rich nations on Feb. 12 to try to map a way out of the global economic crisis inflicted by COVID-19 and to find a solution to an international tax wrangle too.

British finance minister Rishi Sunak and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey will co-host an online meeting of their peers from Canada, the United States, Japan, Germany, France and Italy, as well as the European Central Bank, Britain’s finance ministry said.

“Recognizing that a global crisis needs global solutions, the Chancellor will work with his counterparts to address the shared economic challenges facing our domestic and global economies, and seek to achieve a strong and sustainable economic recovery from coronavirus,” the ministry said.

The administration of new U.S. President Joe Biden has said it will work with other countries to secure an economic recovery and tackle difficult climate and international tax issues, a change in tone from former president Donald Trump.

Britain is chairing the G7 this year at a time that the global economy is still reeling from the impact of lockdowns, prompting governments to spend trillions of dollars to stave off the worst of the damage.

Vaccination programs are now underway, raising the prospect of a recovery later this year. But the different pace of the rollouts is likely to mean some regions lag behind with the euro zone at particular risk of a slow recovery.

Climate change and biodiversity loss would be made a central priority ahead of the COP26 conference to be hosted by Britain in November, the British finance ministry said.

“This in addition to working closely to reach a global solution on tax challenges created by digitalization on the economy, and supporting the global sustainable financing of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics,” it said.

Nearly 140 countries are negotiating the first update in a generation to rules for taxing cross-border commerce, reflecting the dominance of big digital companies like Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to host the first in-person summit of G7 leaders in nearly two years in June to discuss rebuilding from the pandemic and climate change.

Rishi Sunak