G20 Finance Ministers and bankers meet in Shanghai
February 29, 2016 Category Finance, Weekly
Structural reform is the recipe for mending faltering global growth and receding productivity gain, officials at the G20 meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Shanghai said. “Whether the world can deliver strong, inclusive and sustainable growth really depends on the pace of structural reform,” Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said. “The overall reform of the G20 has lagged behind expectations in recent years, so it is critical to strengthen the G20 reform agenda.” Lou’s remarks are seen as a nuanced criticism that seven years after the global financial crisis, governments around the world still have been relying mainly on monetary easing to stimulate the economy at the expense of structural reform. Commenting on the fiscal deficit this year, Lou said China’s deficit ratio is set to rise, without giving details. Most economists expected China’s ratio of fiscal deficit as a percentage of GDP to rise to above 3% from last year’s 2.3%. “Unlike other economies, China has room to expand the deficit,” Lou said. But he warned against complacency, stressing that the room is not “infinite”. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde also noted that the supply-side reform could risk tightening demand, which is why she called for “a mix of mutually reinforcing demand and supply policies”, the China Daily reports. China plans to take measures that will include deregulation to improve the business environment, targeted tax cuts to support industry, liberating the labor market to encourage employment, and accelerating urbanization to absorb migrant workers as urban residents.
- KURT VANDEPUTTE (UMICORE) APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE FLANDERS-CHINA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (FCCC)
- Webinar: “Knowing Your Chinese Partner” – May 26, 2021, 10 am – 12 am
- EMA starts rolling review of CoronaVac, WHO approves Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use
- The Global Times warns not to politicize the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI)
- Hainan to become biggest duty-free market in the world