G-20 - Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Centr : The G20 agenda was addressed within the Gaidar Forum

The Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev highlighted the main tasks of Russia's G20 Presidency during the plenary discussion "Russia and Global Integration Challenges". "A new model of economic regulation is currently being formed. It appears that this will be a supra-national model, - Prime Minister said. - Leading countries will have to make unconventional and responsible decisions in the next few years... Within our Presidency, we see our role in offering a policy to consolidate economic growth to our partners. Most importantly, we must restore confidence on global markets and develop new international financial centres. We must eliminate barriers hampering direct investment and global value-creation chains. We must ensure more transparent and more effective financial regulation, as well as that in other spheres... I am confident that we will be able to turn to normal sustained development in this manner, that is, by removing barriers and by strengthening international coordination".

During the panel discussion "New Configuration of the World Financial System" - the Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov admitted that Russia aspires to put the necessity of macroeconomic coordination to the forefront of the G20, first of all - among large economies, systemically important for the global economic situation. "Precise implementation of the obligations taken by the economies under the agreements made in the G20, in our view, is very correct decision if we aim for providing macroeconomic policy coordination," - Minister assumed.    

During the first day of the Forum there was also held a roundtable discussion "The G20 Answers to the Global Challenges" devoted to the role of the G20 in a changing world and to Russia's G20 Presidency. The moderator of the discussion, Chief of the Presidential Experts' Directorate and the Russian G20 Sherpa Ksenia Yudaeva, recalled Russia's Presidency priorities, namely: growth through quality jobs and investments, growth through trust and transparency, growth through effective regulation. "In its Presidency's agenda Russia, first of all, suggested to focus on the issue of economic growth and policies aimed for growth stimulation not so much in the short-term, but in the mid-term, which means the necessity to support investments," - Yudaeva stressed.

The Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergey Storchak admitted that Russia strives to act within the trend, which is formed globally, and that the practical measures taken in the sphere of financial regulation correspond with the world's best practices. Referring to the expected outcomes of the Presidency year, Storchak said that Russia hopes to launch the mechanism of reporting on the implementation of Individual Plans and commitments. "We expect that in Saint-Petersburg we will adopt a new plan of realization of the Framework for strong, sustainable and balanced growth agreement that will draw a line under the implementation of the Action Plans, adopted in Cannes and Los Cabos, - Deputy Minister said. - It is planned to launch an initiative on the development of stock market trading in national currencies. Within the period of Russia's Presidency we hope to arrange the issue of the IMF quota distribution formula and governance reform. It is also important to reach consensus on the conditions and the volume of 15th IMF funds refill. We plan to complete our work on a number of issues dealing with financial regulation reform; in particular - to reset the mechanism of assessment of the position of credit-rating agencies in the financial system. We are finalizing practical agreements on shadow banking regulation. And finally, in Saint-Petersburg we expect to sign a set of documents on derivatives regulation". 

Sergey Shvetsov, Deputy Chair of the Russian Central Bank, noted that not only the mechanism for decision-making is developed within the G20, but also the means to deliver these decisions to the stage of practical realization.  "For Russia the G20 is, first of all, the "ideas bank". The G20 process is disclosing both good and bad experience. This process is public, none of the countries is hiding its problems, and therefore it allows to avoid others' mistakes. Likewise, the G20 process is concerned with finding primarily acceptable decisions" - Shvetsov stated. "Our financial market today has become global, - Shvetsov said. - This 'dominoes effect' such as that of 2008, has shown that we all sail on the same boat. There is a competition between financial markets for the best deck to occupy, but everybody agrees on the direction of the sail. And the G20 came to be the only possible institution which makes it possible to bypass icebergs".   

The OECD Chief of Staff and the OECD G20 Sherpa Gabriela Ramos addressed the role of the G20 in solving global financial problems. In her view, "today for the very first time the G20 will be able to avoid talking about emergencies and really focus on the agenda for growth. And here is an important role for Russia to play... Russia is putting the key question - what are we going to do to really foster economic growth in the G20 economies?"

The central topic of the presentation of Aasim Hussein, Deputy Director of the IMF European Department, was the necessity of global policy coordination: "Many experts emphasize today the necessity of structural reforms to increase the competitiveness of economies. Such actions are of common interest for all countries, and the spirit of united effort is not less important today than it was in 2009 when the G20 coordinated policies to overcome the crisis". 

Addressing the role of the G20 in ensuring sustainable growth, Jeff Chelsky, the Lead Economist and Coordinator of the International Partnerships and Policy Group in the World Bank, admitted that "the G20 derives its legitimacy not from the fact that it represents two thirds of the world population, but from taking into account also the interests of non-member countries, for example, African countries."   

Chawngthu Vanlalramsanga, the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance of India, spoke about the influence of the G20 on the developing economies and about the importance of the Russian presidency. According to Vanlalramsanga, "in the period of its G20 Presidency Russia is very well placed to coordinate international policy actions, because Russia is a member of the G8, the G20 and BRICS. It is the only country who is a member of all these leading international fora. Therefore, if such coordination is to be made, it is Russia who can do it".

Finalizing the roundtable discussion Ksenia Yudaeva announced that the next big event within the framework of Russia's G20 Presidency will be the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' Meeting which is scheduled for February 15-16 and will be convened in Moscow.