22 September 2011

Treasurer to Attend G20, IMF and World Bank Meetings

Today I will meet with G20 Finance Ministers in Washington DC before attending this weekend's annual meeting of the IMF and World Bank.

These meetings will be a vital opportunity to get first-hand assessments from my G20 colleagues at a crucial time for the world economy, with growing evidence that the global economic recovery has faltered.

Growth in the United States and Europe has slowed and international financial markets remain volatile, reflecting concerns about the ability of many developed economies to get their budgets back on a sustainable footing.

My message at these meetings will be that major economies need to deal with this dangerous new phase with the same determination that saw us stare down the global financial crisis.

Clearly many developed economies need to put in place credible plans for medium-term fiscal consolidation, while also supporting their recoveries in the short term where possible.

Likewise developing countries need to put in place policies to foster domestic demand and move towards more market-based exchange rates.

Despite this ongoing turbulence, the Australian economy remains resilient and our region has a bright outlook, with strong growth expected to continue into the future.

Australia has an unemployment rate around half that of the United States and Europe and our net debt is expected to peak at one tenth that of major advanced economies.

Because of the actions we took to avoid recession and support our economy during the Global Financial Crisis, we now face this renewed instability in the global economy from a position of strength.

While in Washington, I will hold bilateral meetings with a number of my G20 and IMF counterparts ahead of the annual IMF and World Bank meetings on Saturday.

I will travel to New York on 25 September for a series of meetings with senior investors, policy makers and business leaders.

This will be an important opportunity to outline for investors the fundamental strengths of the Australian economy and the very positive outlook for our economy.