The G20 leading economies struck a hopeful tone on the outlook for global growth on Friday, even as officials fretted that Athens’ inability to strike a deal with its lenders could upset Europe’s tentative recovery.
In a communique after a two-day meeting, G20 finance ministers and central bankers welcomed brighter economic signs in rich nations, but lamented weaknesses in emerging markets.
“Risks to the global economy are more balanced since we last met,” the finance officials said. “Near-term prospects in advanced economies, notably the eurozone and Japan, have improved recently, while the US and UK continue to record solid growth, which could support a stronger global recovery.”
Photo: Bloomberg
Still, the group of developed and emerging market nations cited challenges from an array of sources, including exchange rate volatility and geopolitical tensions.
Greece was not mentioned by name in the communique and Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, speaking on behalf of the G20, said the issue of Greece did not feature in the formal discussions.
However, uncertainty over whether Athens could reach agreement with its EU and IMF lenders over new bailout terms in time to meet big upcoming debt payments cast a cloud over the gathering and other talks on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings.
“The mood is notably more gloomy than at the last international gathering,” British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne told reporters. “It’s clear now to me that a misstep or a miscalculation on either side could easily return European economies to the kind of perilous situation we saw three to four years ago.”
The US pressed Athens to commit more fully to discussions over the nuts-and-bolts of proposed reforms.
“Not reaching agreement would create immediate hardship for Greece, and uncertainties for Europe and the global economy more broadly,” US Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew said in a statement.
In a sign of the seriousness with which officials are taking the risk that negotiations founder, the European Central Bank has analyzed a scenario in which Greece runs out of money and starts paying civil servants with IOUs, people with knowledge of the exercise said.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, chairman of the eurozone finance ministers group, warned that Greece and the eurozone should not try to see who could hold out longer in negotiations.
“Let’s not go into a game of chicken to see who can stick it out longer. We have a joint interest to reach an agreement quickly,” Dijsselbloem said.
However, he said it would take at least a couple more weeks to come to an agreement between Athens and the eurozone, possibly in time for the May 11 meeting of eurozone finance ministers and just a day before Greece has to make a large loan repayment.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft