G-20 Istanbul meeting to focus on EU economy

OTTAWA - Reuters

Canada’s Finance Minister Joe Oliver says G-20 finance ministers and central bankers will focus on Europe’s economic troubles next week in Istanbul. REUTERS photo

Europe’s economic troubles will be a key focus when Group of 20 (G-20) finance ministers and central bankers meet in Istanbul next week, Canadian Finance Minister Joe Oliver said on late Feb. 4.

“The focus has been, of course, on Europe where the growth is stagnant and where we’re in a deflationary period. The (European) central bank has launched a massive quantitative easing program...and so we’re hoping that will be part of the solution,” Oliver told reporters.

“We’re going to be talking about monetary policy, fiscal policy and structural change to try to address that issue, and we’ll be discussing some of the other geopolitical concerns that have financial and economic implications.”

A conundrum facing the G-20 at the Feb. 9-10 meeting is figuring out what kind of joint action is appropriate given the current economic disparity: The United States growing relatively strongly and Europe flagging.

Asked about such joint action, Oliver said a major focus this year will be on implementing the 950 individual action plans that G-20 members agreed on last year to try to boost global gross domestic product by 2 percent.

Washington believes the U.S. economy has turned a corner but U.S. officials acknowledge slower growth abroad will be a drag. The Obama administration says foreign policymakers can’t rely on U.S. consumers to prop up their economies.

“The rest of the world cannot depend on the United States to be the sole engine of growth,” Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told lawmakers on Feb. 3.