The finance ministers of the Group of 20 have finally reached a consensus following meetings in South Africa, emphasising that central banks must remain independent in reaction to months of attacks by United States President Donald Trump.
In their final statement published on Friday, following two days of meetings in the coastal city of Durban, the grouping agreed on key challenges for the global economy, including ongoing wars and conflicts, trade disputes, supply chain disruptions, debt and natural disasters.
The G20 finance ministers have met several times since the beginning of the year, but have been unable to agree on a joint statement at previous summits.
“Central banks are strongly committed to ensuring price stability, consistent with their respective mandates, and will continue to adjust their policies in a data-dependent manner,” the grouping said in Friday’s joint declaration, their first communique since October.
“Central bank independence is crucial to achieving this goal,” read the statement, which was also signed by the US.
Trump has for a long time been criticising the Federal Reserve – the central bank of the US – mainly over its decision on interest rates.
His attacks have intensified during his second term in office, and have mainly targeted Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell, whom he has called a “moron”, “numbskull”, and “stubborn mule”.
Trump is unhappy with the central bank’s decision to lower interest rates slower than he prefers in an effort to fight inflation. He has also strongly criticised Powell for his handling of a project to renovate the Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington, DC.
The joint communique on Friday was reached in the absence of US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, but Washington was represented by Michael Kaplan, acting undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs.
Bessent had also missed the previous gathering of the finance ministers of the G20 in Cape Town in February, when the representatives had failed to reach a joint stance to the dismay of host country South Africa.
Economic ‘uncertainty’, complex challenges
The US is set to assume the G20’s rotating presidency in December, but it reportedly plans to shift its approach to the multilateral institution, which it helped found in 1999.
Three unnamed US sources cited by the Reuters news agency said on Friday that Washington plans to focus on the G20 leaders’ summit and the financial meetings in November, eliminating other working groups and ministerial-level meetings, including those on energy, healthcare, commerce, and environment.
The US has already withdrawn from co-chairing a working group on sustainable finance with China, and it remains unclear whether Trump will join the leaders’ summit in South Africa.
In its joint statement, the group also highlighted the global trade landscape that has increasingly been rocked by Trump’s tariffs, as well as wars involving the US and its allies.
“The global economy is facing heightened uncertainty and complex challenges, including ongoing wars and conflicts, geopolitical and trade tensions,” it said.
The G20 is made up of 19 nations, as well as the European Union and the African Union, and its members account for more than 80 percent of the world’s economic output.
