The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting held in Cape Town, South Africa, came to an end on Wednesday (February 26), but failed to reach a joint communiqu é. Host South Africa has released a 'Chair's Summary' reaffirming its commitment to resist protectionism and calling for support for a rules based multilateral trading system. The meeting was overshadowed by the absence of several finance ministers from major economies and geopolitical tensions.

Background and Challenges of the Conference

The G20 finance ministers' meeting is being held against the backdrop of rising trade protectionism, ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and global challenges such as climate change response. However, the absence of finance ministers from major economies such as the United States, China, India, and Japan weakened the global representativeness of the conference. In addition, the decisions of the United States and the United Kingdom to reduce foreign aid have added uncertainty to the conference.

The core content of the chairman's summary

Despite the failure to reach a joint communiqu é, South Africa's "Chair's Summary" emphasized the commitment of participating members to resist protectionism and support a "rules based, non discriminatory, fair, open, inclusive, equal, sustainable, and transparent multilateral trading system". This statement reflects the concerns of G20 member countries about the deterioration of the current global trade environment.

Global Economic Situation and Inflation Issues

In summary, the global economic recovery is showing an uneven trend, with significant differences in growth patterns among countries. Although the inflation rate has fallen due to effective adjustments in monetary policy and easing of supply shocks, progress varies among countries. This analysis highlights the complex challenges facing the global economy.

The statement of South African Finance Minister and the dilemma of multilateral meetings

South African Finance Minister Godongguana expressed dissatisfaction with the failure to issue a joint communiqu é, but also acknowledged that the "Chairman's Summary" has become a common practice in multilateral meetings when formal consensus cannot be reached. This phenomenon reflects the current challenges faced by global multilateral cooperation, especially in the context of escalating geopolitical tensions.

Summary: Where does the global economy go under the shadow of protectionism?

The failure to reach a joint communiqu é at the G20 finance ministers' meeting highlights the challenges facing global multilateral cooperation. Although the Chairman's Summary reiterated the commitment to resist protectionism, the absence of finance ministers from major economies and geopolitical tensions weakened the outcome of the meeting. In the future, whether the global economy can achieve stable recovery against the backdrop of rising protectionism will depend on whether countries can reach substantive cooperation on key issues such as trade and climate change. Although this meeting ended without any results, the issues it reflected are worth pondering globally.

The failure of the G20 finance ministers' meeting to reach a joint communiqu é reflects the challenges facing global multilateral cooperation, especially against the backdrop of rising trade protectionism and escalating geopolitical tensions. This uncertainty may boost market risk aversion and benefit gold. However, this may also weaken market confidence in global economic recovery, thereby putting pressure on the euro.