SA to call for greater cooperation, reiterate IMF reform process concerns at G20 meeting

20th February 2014 By: Leandi Kolver - Creamer Media Deputy Editor

SA to call for greater cooperation, reiterate IMF reform process concerns at G20 meeting

South Africa would use a meeting between G20 countries, scheduled to take place this weekend in Sydney, Australia, to encourage the global economic community to return to greater cooperation and coordination through the G20 network, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Thursday.

Deputy Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene would lead the South African government delegation to the meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, where the challenges of resolving the after-effects of the global financial crisis would be discussed, as Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan would be preparing for the tabling of the 2014 Budget.

“[At the meeting] our delegation will draw attention to the need for greater care in ensuring clear and consistent communication of policy actions by the large economies,” the Finance Ministry said, adding that recent events had demonstrated how financial markets could affect stability in emerging economies.

Although the recent performance of the US and eurozone economies showed promise, the global economy remained constrained by weak global aggregate demand and underinvestment, which were important for sustainable global growth.

The South African delegation would also pay particular attention to the G20’s agenda for investment in infrastructure and its potential to support this agenda in sub-Saharan Africa.

Further, like many emerging economies, South Africa remained concerned about the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reform process, the Finance Ministry said.

“We will, therefore, reiterate concerns that the IMF reform process has failed to improve the representation of sub-Saharan Africa in the IMF and that no action has been taken to address the steady erosion of the voting share of this region during the previous round of governance reforms.

“Given the increased use of global capital markets by a number of sub-Saharan African countries in recent years, their poor representation in the IMF is inconsistent with the fund’s reform objectives of legitimacy, credibility and effectiveness,” the Finance Ministry said.