RIYADH, March 31, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Finance ministers and central bankers of
the Group of 20 major economies will hold a second round of virtual talks
Tuesday to push ahead the coronavirus response, the Saudi hosts said.
G20 leaders last week pledged a “united front” in the fight against the
pandemic, saying they were injecting $5 trillion into the global economy to
head off forecasts of a deep recession.
Saudi Arabia, which holds the group’s rotating presidency, said the
ministers and bank governors will convene for the second time to “advance a
coordinated global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its human and
economic implications”.
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin joined the
emergency summit chaired by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, who called for
coordinated action while facing pressure to end an oil price war between
Riyadh and Moscow that has roiled energy markets.
The talks came after criticism that the G20 has been slow to address the
COVID-19 pandemic, which has left more than 37,500 dead worldwide and
triggered financial shock waves as some two-fifths of the globe’s population
is put under lockdown.
The $5 trillion figure is the sum total of the fiscal stimulus packages
adopted by individual G20 states, the Chinese foreign ministry said, adding
that Beijing’s share amounted to $344 billion.
As concerns mount for poorer countries without access to capital markets or
adequate health facilities, G20 leaders also pledged to work with bodies such
as the International Monetary Fund to deploy a “robust” financial package to
support developing nations.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter that “a strong initiative”
would be launched to help African nations deal with the crisis.
Putin called for a “moratorium” on sanctions during the pandemic, telling
G20 leaders it was a matter “of life and death”. Russia has faced numerous
rounds of Western sanctions following the annexation of Crimea in 2014.