African perspectives and priorities are in full view this week as South Africa plays host to the G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies meeting held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).
This is according to Director-General (DG) of National Treasury, Dr Duncan Pieterse who spoke to SAnews on the sidelines of the meeting.
The G20 Finance Track is one of the only global platforms where Finance Ministers and central bank governors from around the world gather to discuss the global economy and its architecture.
Leaders also typically present issues that their countries would like to advance.
“[It’s] a very unique and important opportunity for key discussions, to take place. Of course, for our Presidency, we’ve placed Africa at the core of our agenda.
“And so, there are a lot of different issues that we are discussing this week that has an impact on the future of the continent. Things like the reform of multilateral development banks and how do we increase African voices in that space, infrastructure, how do we create the right kind of pipelines for infrastructure development, and what are the financing options in that regard,” Pieterse said.
Delving deeper, the DG explained how the technical details of the meetings will now flow to the Finance Ministers in preparation for their deliberations, which begin on Wednesday.
“There are lots of technical details associated with things like quotas, like replenishment of the funds available for African countries towards their development issues around the cost of capital. And the cost of debt and what that means for the developmental challenges of Africa in order to finance the development requirements that they have.
“All of those areas are located in different G20 working groups. So each of the different working groups are occupied with those different areas, and every time we meet as Deputies, the work of the working groups come together, we discuss it, then take it to the Ministers and the governors for their deliberation, and then typically thereafter we would release a statement that would then capture the essence of the discussions,” he said.
One of the key issues facing developing countries particularly in Africa, is rising debt burdens.
This creates economic instability with factors such as the high cost of borrowing and rising interest rates contributing to the problem.
“So, what we’ve decided to do this year is to establish…an Africa Panel chaired by the former Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel and one of the issues that we’ve asked the African panel to look at is precisely this. [They will look at] what are the ways in which we can help African countries deal with the debt challenge?
“Part of that is about governance, part of that is about fiscal policy and better fiscal management because that ultimately impacts your cost of borrowing. Part of that is about growth and how do you ensure that you can grow your economy in order to be able to service your debt.
“So, the G20 Africa Panel is going to be an important part of that work and we'll ensure that that work is infused in the agenda of the G20,” Pieterse said.
The G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies meeting continues in Cape Town on Tuesday. – SAnews.gov.za
