G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to Meet Saturday

G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to Meet Saturday
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G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to Meet Saturday

G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to Meet Saturday

Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from the Group of 20 major economies are set to hold a virtual meeting on Saturday to discuss global economic outlook and coordinate collective action for a robust and sustained global economic recovery.

The FMCBG meeting will be held under the Saudi G20 Presidency and will be chaired by Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Aljadaan and Dr. Ahmed Alkholifey, Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority.

The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors endorsed in April the G20 Action Plan in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and will be reviewing, tracking its implementation in upcoming FMCBG meetings and reporting on its progress to the G20 Leaders’ Summit in November.

The Plan “sets out the key principles guiding the G20 response and its commitments to specific actions to drive forward international economic cooperation as we navigate this crisis and look ahead to a robust, sustained and inclusive global economic recovery,” the G20 Saudi Secretariat said in a statement.

“The Action Plan aims also to strengthen international financial assistance to countries in need, especially the poorest countries. This includes agreement on a G20 historic initiative that calls for debt suspension and can provide over USD 14 billion in relief to the poorest countries, enabling them to redirect resources to fight the pandemic,” it said.

“The FMCBG meeting will also review progress on previously agreed G20 Finance Track priorities in 2020, including on enhancing access to opportunities for all, financial resilience and development, infrastructure investment, addressing tax challenges arising from the digitalization of the economy, and Financial Sector issues around enhancing global crossborder payment arrangements, LIBOR transition and digital financial inclusion for youth, women, and SMEs,” it added.



Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
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Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday said he will nominate prominent investor Scott Bessent as US Treasury secretary, a key cabinet position with vast influence over economic, regulatory and international affairs.

"I am most pleased to nominate Scott Bessent to serve as the 79th Secretary of the Treasury of the United States," Trump said in a statement released on Truth Social. "Scott is widely respected as one of the world's foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists."

Wall Street has been closely watching who Trump will pick, especially given his plans to remake global trade through tariffs and extend and potentially expand the raft of tax cuts enacted during his first term, Reuters reported
The choice came after days of deliberations by Trump as he sorted through a shifting list of candidates. Bessent spent day after day at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida providing economic advice, sources said, a proximity to the president-elect that may have helped him prevail.
Other names that had been floated included Apollo Global Management Chief Executive Marc Rowan and former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh. Investor John Paulson had also been a leading candidate, but dropped out, while Wall Street veteran Howard Lutnick, another contender, was appointed as head of the Commerce Department.
Bessent, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has advocated for tax reform and deregulation, particularly to spur more bank lending and energy production, as noted in a recent opinion piece he wrote for The Wall Street Journal.
The market's surge after Trump's election victory, he wrote, signaled investor expectations of "higher growth, lower volatility and inflation, and a revitalized economy for all Americans."
"Bessent has been on the side of less aggressive tariffs," said Oxford Economics' Ryan Sweet, adding that picking him makes the steep tariffs Trump proposed on the campaign trail less likely.
Bessent follows other financial luminaries who have taken the job, including former Goldman Sachs executives Robert Rubin, Hank Paulson and Steven Mnuchin, Trump's first Treasury chief. Janet Yellen, the current secretary and first woman in the job, previously chaired the Federal Reserve and White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, Bessent's home state, said in a statement: "President Trump's economic agenda is in good hands with Scott Bessent. I look forward to working closely with Scott and President Trump to lower inflation and create the golden age of prosperity for the American people."