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G20 finance chiefs back central bank independence in first communique since October - REUTERS
By Maria Martinez, Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Kopano Gumbi
Summary
- First communique since October 2024
- Pledge to boost cooperation, recognise importance of WTO
- Communique agreed despite absence of US Treasury Secretary
DURBAN, July 18 (Reuters) - Finance chiefs from the Group of 20 countries stressed the importance of central bank independence and pledged to boost cooperation in a communique they issued on Friday after a two-day meeting in South Africa.
In their first communique since last October, a month before President Donald Trump's election victory and subsequent tariff war, the ministers and central bankers highlighted the uncertainty in the global economy caused by conflicts, trade tensions and frequent extreme weather events.
The issue of central bank independence hung heavily over the meeting in South Africa's coastal city of Durban following Trump's repeated berating of U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates, attacks that have roiled global financial markets.
