G20 finmin meeting ends with first communique agreement under SA's presidency
The six-page document is the first under South Africa's G20 presidency.
The diplomatic bloc failed to agree on a formal communique at the February meeting in Cape Town, with some pushback from the US on climate financing.
This week's deliberations in KwaZulu-Natal saw member states stuck on sustainable financing before finding consensus with each other on a range of common global challenges.
SA Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo briefed the media on some of the outcomes of the meeting on Friday afternoon.
Despite taking place under the cloud of Donald Trump's tariff wars and growing geopolitical tensions, Masondo said that the fiscal and monetary policy heads all came to the table.
"The meeting delivered productive and constructive discussions on Africa, the global economic outlook and macroeconomic stability, the international financial architecture, sustainable finance, global health, infrastructure, tax, financial sector issues and financial inclusion."
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Daily Maverick
5 hours ago
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After the Bell: Banking payment systems and the magic of money
The big banks are the ones that really seem to benefit from our banking payment systems. They operate most of the banking cards, run the merchant's systems and then get proper access to the payment system. However, it looks like this might change soon. It has become so normal, so baked into our lives, that it's easy to forget the simple set of miracles that happen whenever you pay for something and you are not using cash. Somehow, through a series of communications between different people who don't know each other, I am able to tap my phone and get a good, strong, hot and nearly black Americano in exchange (cappuccinos, as everyone knows, are for wimps). The line of connections here, the different parties that need to communicate, is intricate and long. My phone needs to hold my credit card details, the light blue machine that I tap needs to communicate with my bank, verify the card, check there is money in it (this has been very depressing this close to the end of the month), take some of the money out of the account, pass it to someone else and tell that person that all of that has happened. In the brief seconds that the transaction and interchange takes place, I usually don't even get a chance to check my WhatsApp. Or, sometimes, my bank account to predict what the outcome of this transaction will be. So much of this is about trust. I am trusting the merchant I'm tapping my phone on. They are trusting me. We both trust the light blue machine that I am tapping. And both of us, despite our better instincts, are trusting our banks. That's just the start of the process. Banks are trusting each other as they interact behind the scenes and move numbers around. Amazingly, nothing gets lost in this process. Profitable While this is amazing, it is also profitable for some of the parties involved. The big banks are the ones that really seem to benefit. They operate most of the banking cards, run the merchant's systems and then get proper access to the payment system. However, it looks like this might change soon. The SA Reserve Bank has now said it wants to open up this system a bit — to drive the modernisation of our payment system. It would seem likely that cash might be the loser in all of this. Already, cash has become one of the more expensive ways for companies and merchants to accept payment. But the other big loser could be the big banks; they'll lose their sort-of monopoly. Instead, a host of other actors, such as fintech companies, could start playing a bigger part. I think that trust is going to be the big issue here. I have full faith in the SA Reserve Bank and the people who run it to pull this off, and to do it well. At the very least, I know their real intention is to create a payment system that works well for everyone. Strangely, it now looks like one of their big competitors will actually be cryptocurrencies. More and more people seem to be looking in that direction. Recently, The Economist investigated one currency, a stablecoin called Tether (its selling point is that it retains its value to the dollar, one stablecoin=1USD no matter what). 'Useful to criminals' The Economist described Tether as 'The financial equivalent of being able to turn up at the airport, open a secret door and go straight on to the plane, without any X-rays, passport inspections, customs controls or intrusive questions. There aren't many other products that are as useful to criminals, and as much of a threat to the financial system, that have been allowed to flourish with so little regulation.' 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I'm sure that, like me, you've had a call from your bank one arbitrary Saturday afternoon to ask if you're really in Bogota buying a boat (or, in my case, a cappuccino). Grateful I have good reason to be grateful for these systems. Last year, on Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, I was keeping a very close eye on our credit card. I noticed a payment to Facebook for around R20K. I was able to contact my bank and they could confirm within hours that it was a scam. Literally, the next morning, the money was back in my account. While cryptocurrencies work very differently, that moment re-instilled my faith in how the current system works. It meant that if the magic of payments had been hijacked by people-who-cannot-be-named, Dumbledore was still around to make things right. I wish the SA Reserve Bank luck with its new mission. It won't be easy. And if it fails, I wouldn't want to be them.
TimesLIVE
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Brics would end quickly if they 'ever form in meaningful way': Trump
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Mail & Guardian
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- Mail & Guardian
G20 finance track calls for IMF reform, revitalising the World Trade Organisation, inclusive global growth
South Africa heads the G20 in 2025. (@G20org/X) South Africa's G20 During the third meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors last week, the finance track supported the restructuring of the international financial architecture with enhanced country risk evaluation. 'We reaffirm our commitment to a strong, quota-based, and adequately resourced IMF at the centre of the global financial safety net. We have advanced the domestic approvals for our consent to the quota increase under the 16th general review of quotas, and we look forward to finalising this process with no further delay,' a communique at the end of the meeting stated. 'We acknowledge the importance of realignment in quota shares to better reflect members' relative positions in the world economy while protecting the quota shares of the poorest members. We acknowledge, however, that building consensus among members on quota and governance reforms will require progress in stages.' Last week's meeting was part of a series of forums held under South Africa's year-long G20 presidency and ahead of the main summit of G20 leaders in Johannesburg in November. The finance track delegates backed a declaration agreed in April, for the development of a set of principles guiding future discussions on IMF quotas and governance, to be concluded by the next IMF spring meeting in 2026. According to the G20 finance track, IMF reforms are meant to enhance its efficiency and effectiveness — essential for generating 'strong economic growth and creating more and better jobs'. Critics have spoken of 'excessive imbalances' in IMF representation, calling for reforms that could lead to country-specific reforms and multilateral coordination 'in a way that contributes to an open global economy and without compromising sustainable global growth'. Think Tank 20, a G20 working group composed of international think tanks, recently made In June, Youth 20 (Y20) working groups issued their While acknowledging the importance of the IMF in global financing, the finance track conceded that building consensus among members on quota and governance reforms will take time because Global South countries negotiate their demands against Global North priorities. The track outlined the factors affecting global economic growth, financial and price stability — heightened uncertainty and 'complex challenges' including wars, geopolitical and trade tensions, disruptions to global supply chains, high debt levels and frequent extreme weather events and natural disasters. 'In light of high public debt and fiscal pressures, we recognise the need to raise long-term growth potential by pursuing growth-oriented macroeconomic policies, while building fiscal buffers, ensuring fiscal sustainability, encouraging public and private investments and undertaking productivity-enhancing reforms,' the communique said. It also recommended central bank independence and revitalising the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The G20 central bank governors committed to ensuring price stability, data-driven policy adjustment and policy consistency with their respective mandates. 'We will continue to pursue efforts that advance prosperity and recognise the importance of the World Trade Organisation to advance trade issues, and acknowledge the agreed-upon rules in the WTO as an integral part of the global trading system,' the communique said. 'We recognise the WTO has challenges and needs meaningful, necessary, and comprehensive reform to improve all its functions, through innovative approaches, to be more relevant and responsive in light of today's realities.' The finance ministers and governors urged the international community to support vulnerable countries whose debt is sustainable but which face liquidity problems, and encouraged IMF and the World Bank to work on feasible options to support these nations. The finance track also underscored the importance of 'sustainable finance' by ensuring 'robust, resilient and effective coordination' between multilateral development banks, climate funds and others in support of national priorities. 'Scaling up co-financing and mobilising private sector resources by improving efficiency and promoting the use of innovative financial instruments is essential for developing countries' risk-sharing in country-led climate investments,' said the communique. The ministers and governors reaffirmed their commitment to addressing vulnerabilities and promoting an open, resilient and stable financial system, which supports economic growth, and is 'based on the consistent, full and timely implementation of all agreed upon reforms and international standards, including Basel III'. The finance track backed the G20 roadmap for enhancing cross-border payments; regional financial action task forces to combat money laundering; and implementation of partnerships on financing micro, small and medium enterprises. The finance ministers and central bank governors highlighted the importance of pandemic prevention, preparedness and response and called for more support for the pandemic and global health funds to strengthen medical infrastructure. 'We emphasise the importance of effective and efficient health spending and domestic resource mobilisation, given the current reduction in donor assistance, as well as the need for better coordination and alignment of external and domestic funding flows,' the communique stated. The finance ministers and central bank governors' will meet in October in Washington DC in preparation for the November summit and handover of the G20 presidency from South Africa to the United States.
