The Treasurer and the Reserve Bank Governor Ian Macfarlane will represent Australia at the 2002 meeting of the G-20 Finance Minsters and Central Bank Governors in New Delhi this weekend.
Ministers will discuss issues including means to reduce the risk of national economic crises and to resolve them if they do occur; progress on measures to combat the financing of terrorism; how to assist in the reduction of global poverty and improve the delivery of aid; the experience of G-20 economies with globalisation and the policy challenges it presents.
The G-20 was formed in late 1999 in the wake of the Asian economic crisis, as an informal mechanism for dialogue among systemically important countries, within the framework of the Bretton Woods system which created the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
It comprises the world's biggest economies, the G-7, plus Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Korea, and Turkey. The Finance Minister of the country holding the (rotating) Presidency of the European Union, and the President of the European Central Bank also participate in the meetings, as do the Managing Director of the IMF and the President of the World Bank.
The G-20's members account for almost 65 per cent of the world's population and over 75 per cent of the world's economy at purchasing power parities. Unlike most other international economic groupings, it spans the developing and the industrialised world, with membership accounting for around 70 per cent of the world's poor. India is the Chair of the G-20 in 2002, and India's Finance Minister Jaswant Singh will chair the New Delhi meeting.
The Treasurer will also undertake bilateral meetings with counterparts and with Indian business leaders.
The Treasurer will leave for New Delhi tomorrow (Thursday) and will return to Australia on Monday.