BERLIN – Finance chiefs from the Group of 20 leading economies will discuss the Ukraine crisis this week but it is unclear whether they will issue a joint statement with a political signal or simply exchange views, a German government official said on Wednesday.
Indonesia hosts a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs on Thursday and Friday. Many participants, including German Finance Minister Christian Lindner, will only take part virtually due to the latest coronavirus wave.
On Monday, the Finance Ministers of the G7 group of large western economies warned Russia of “massive” economic consequences if it chose to invade Ukraine, to whose economy they also promised swift and decisive support.
It is unclear whether the larger G20 group, which includes China and Russia itself, will issue a similarly harsh warning to Moscow.
The German government official said the Europeans in the G20 also wanted to push for a quick implementation of a global tax reform, which among other things provides for a minimum tax for companies of 15%.
“Here we will put a clear exclamation mark on implementation,” the official said.
The tax reform in almost 140 countries is supposed to take effect as early as the beginning of 2023. However, this target is considered ambitious by some and may not be achievable.
(Reporting by Christian Kraemer; Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Madeline Chambers)