
Reeves to pitch UK to G20 finance ministers as ‘beacon of stability'
As well as talks with finance ministers, the Treasury said Ms Reeves is expected to meet representatives from major South African businesses in Johannesburg, setting out Britain's stall as pro-growth and open to 'elite global talent'.
Ahead of the trip, she said: 'In a changing world, I am determined Britain leads by example as a beacon of stability.
'Our plan for change is delivering the strong foundations needed to drive prosperity for working people at home, while we build a more resilient economy that works in our national interest abroad.'
The G20 meeting comes at a rocky time for the Chancellor. After growing 0.7% in the first three months of 2025, the economy has since shrunk in the face of global and domestic challenges while inflation hit an 18-month high in June.
Meanwhile, global uncertainty persists with the threat of US tariffs and the ongoing impact of the war in Ukraine.
Seeking to improve economic ties with the G20, Ms Reeves is expected to talk up the Government's new trade and industrial strategies, along with investment in infrastructure and plans set out on Tuesday to cut regulation for financial services.
She said: 'By doubling down on our global strengths in financial services, infrastructure and trade, we're creating the conditions for growth that creates the well-paid jobs and puts more money in people's pockets – even in the face of global headwinds.'
Ms Reeves is also expected to express her support for multilateral institutions such as the G20 as the best way of meeting global challenges.

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Thames Water faces rocketing demand for supplies
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2 hours ago
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If the rate at which the Government borrows exceeds the growth of the economy (in nominal terms), then debt interest payments and the overall debt will rise as a share of GDP. In order to stop this process from leading to an ever-higher debt ratio, the Government must run a primary budget surplus (meaning a surplus on its budget without interest payments), requiring higher taxes and/or cuts in government spending. And the higher the initial debt ratio, the larger the surplus needs to be to stabilise the debt ratio. The debt dynamics are merciless. When emerging market countries become stuck in the debt trap, the result is usually default or much higher inflation, or both. Remarkably, given our pitifully low to non-existent real growth rate, the nominal growth of GDP (i.e. expressed in money terms), exceeds the average rate at which the Government borrows by a small margin. Phew! 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And, at 135pc of GDP, Italy's debt ratio is a good deal higher than in France. But Italy possesses two striking advantages. First, its fiscal deficit is only 3.4pc of GDP, compared to France's 5.8pc. And excluding interest payments (the so-called primary budget), it is in a surplus of 0.5pc, compared to France's deficit of 3.7pc. The result is that to stabilise the debt ratio, Italy needs to tighten the budget deficit (through a mixture of higher taxes and expenditure cuts) by only 0.5pc of GDP. By contrast, to stabilise her debt ratio, France needs to tighten fiscal policy by over 3pc of GDP by 2027. Italy's second advantage is surprising to anyone who has followed Italian politics over the past 80 years. She seems to be more politically stable than France. Giorgia Meloni looks likely to be Italy's first post-war prime minister to complete their term. 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