Food and Energy Crises Dominate G20 Meeting

Top financial officials from the G20 began a meeting in Indonesia on Friday, expected to be dominated by the repercussions of the Ukraine crisis on the global economy as inflation rises and growth prospects weaken. Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati stated in her opening remarks, "The world is watching us," adding, "The actions we take will have a very significant impact on all countries." The two-day meeting for finance ministers and central bank governors is taking place on the Indonesian island of Bali, just a week after a meeting of the group's foreign ministers, where they directed a barrage of accusations at Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov regarding the Ukraine crisis. Initially, discussions were supposed to focus on the best ways to encourage a return to growth after the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the impact of the war in Ukraine and the food and energy crises have now become top agenda items. The Indonesian minister warned, saying, "We are well aware that the cost of our failure to reach an agreement is greater than we can bear," emphasizing that "the humanitarian consequences for many low-income countries will be catastrophic." On the eve of the meeting, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen considered the "greatest challenge" for the global economy to stem from the war in Ukraine, asserting that "representatives of (Russian President Vladimir Putin's) regime should have no place in this forum." She added, "We are witnessing the repercussions of this war around the world, particularly in relation to energy prices and increasing food insecurity."