The G20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors concluded in Asheville, North Carolina, United States, on August 31-September 1. Global growth, the debt burden and global imbalances were the main agenda items at the meeting.
At the end of the meeting, G20 members failed to reach full agreement on a joint statement. Instead, the United States issued a G20 Chair's Statement.
Key issues in the chair's statement
The statement said that the global economy had remained resilient despite ongoing conflicts. It emphasized the need to reduce bureaucracy, support investment in artificial intelligence and protect critical supply chains, including those for energy and food.
It said the meeting focused on supporting business growth and removing administrative barriers to innovation, with private-sector representatives taking part in the discussions. The statement said global imbalances threatened economic stability and called on countries overly dependent on exports to implement reforms that would increase domestic consumption.
It said the G20 Common Framework should be implemented more quickly and transparently to ease the debt burden of developing countries. The statement also highlighted the importance of increasing financial literacy worldwide.
China objects to several provisions
China objected to the fourth provision, which addressed energy trade and geopolitical conflicts. Beijing also entered reservations about the 10th provision, which called for the removal of non-market policies that hinder domestic consumption in relation to global imbalances; the 11th provision, which advocated International Monetary Fund oversight of these imbalances; and the 13th provision, which governed debt restructuring processes.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at a press conference that he had hoped a joint statement would be issued, but that full consensus had not been reached. Bessent said members other than China had agreed and that the G20 Chair's Statement reflected issues important to 19 members.
Bessent described China as the country with the world's largest and unsustainable current-account surplus and said that China had opposed the statement. Asked about inviting representatives from Russia to the meetings, he said this had created an unpleasant impression among some Europeans, but that dialogue and engagement were important.
U.S. priorities and the IMF assessment
Before the meeting, a U.S. Treasury official said differences over reducing global imbalances and restructuring government debt could make it difficult to prepare a joint statement. The official said the text needed to reflect U.S. interests and the “America First” priorities, adding that a statement on the talks could be issued if no agreement was reached.
In a written statement after the meeting, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said countries differed significantly in terms of their economic outlooks and risks. Georgieva said the energy supply shock had not ended, global public debt had reached approximately 100 percent of gross domestic product and the disinflation process had stalled in many countries.
Georgieva emphasized that central banks should focus on price stability, fiscal authorities should prepare credible medium-term fiscal consolidation plans and structural reforms should remove barriers to growth.
Georgieva said high refinancing needs and rising debt-servicing costs in developing and low-income countries were limiting spending on infrastructure, health and education. She called for improvements to debt restructuring processes and for countries' fiscal resilience to be strengthened.
The IMF chief also said that global excessive imbalances had increased by 0.7 percent of gross domestic product in 2025, marking the largest rise in the past 10 years. Georgieva said simultaneous policy steps were needed in both current-account surplus and current-account deficit countries to achieve lasting rebalancing.
