South Africa's National Treasury published Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s opening remarks to the third G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting, setting the agenda for the last such meeting hosted in South Africa under its 2025 G20 Presidency. The remarks framed discussions around fragile global growth, rising debt vulnerabilities in developing countries, and the scale of financing needed to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. The speech pointed to moderating inflation and more stable financial conditions in some regions, but emphasised continued uncertainty from rising trade barriers, persistent global imbalances and geopolitical risks. It highlighted high and rising debt vulnerabilities, constrained fiscal space and the high cost of capital in many developing countries, governance challenges from artificial intelligence and digital finance, and the increasing macroeconomic impact of climate-related shocks. The remarks cited an annual Sustainable Development Goals financing gap of USD 4 trillion and echoed the Fourth Financing for Development Conference call for decisive, cooperative action. The two-day meeting agenda includes discussions on global macroeconomic developments and risks and a “real economy” session focused on support for emerging and developing economies. Deliberations were set to cover options to reform the international financial architecture, scale up mobilisation of infrastructure finance and strengthen international taxation, followed by a dedicated focus on impediments to development and growth in Africa and sessions on sustainable finance, financial sector issues and financial inclusion.
National Treasury (South Africa) 2025-07-17
South Africa's National Treasury outlines agenda for final G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting focused on international financial architecture reform
South Africa's National Treasury released Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s remarks for the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting, highlighting fragile global growth, rising debt vulnerabilities, and a USD 4 trillion annual financing gap for Sustainable Development Goals. The agenda includes discussions on global macroeconomic risks, international financial architecture reform, infrastructure finance mobilisation, and challenges to development and growth in Africa, as well as sustainable finance, financial sector issues, and financial inclusion.