Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 economies convened in Bangkok on Thursday to assess an increasingly fragile international outlook driven by the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran.
The talks are taking place alongside the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, running in the Thai capital from October 12 to October 18. The gathering will help establish the agenda for the G20 leaders’ summit scheduled for December 14-15 in Miami, Florida.
Military strikes across the Middle East have disrupted regional economic activity and shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, driving crude oil above $100 a barrel for much of the past eight months. The sustained price surge has severely strained state coffers and household budgets, particularly in the Gulf and across the rest of Asia.
Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he would use the summit to call for a cessation of fighting and the reopening of the vital maritime passage. “The war in the Middle East is having a devastating economic impact and is pushing up fuel prices, inflation and interest rates around the world,” Chalmers said in a statement.
Despite the United States currently holding the rotating G20 presidency, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent chose not to attend the gathering. US officials cited domestic engagements for his absence, with Washington represented instead by Deputy Secretary Francis Brooke and Undersecretary for International Affairs Erin Browne.
In addition to energy shocks, policymakers are addressing severe public debt levels that now surpass 100 percent of gross domestic product in countries including the US, Canada, Japan, Italy, and France. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warned on Wednesday that rising debt poses a global danger and that governments cannot avoid tax increases or expenditure cuts.
Persisting trade divisions also threaten consensus. At the previous ministerial meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, on August 31 and September 1, delegates failed to release a joint communique following Chinese objections to trade language, leaving international coordination uncertain.
