Санкт-Петербургский саммит «Группы 20»

Abstract

«The Group of Twenty» is an informal forum for international cooperation between the leading developed states, the largest developing countries and emerging market economies. The article explores the key strategic approaches and governance decisions related to the main directions of international macroeconomic and financial regulation elaborated during the Russian chairmanship in the G-20 (December 2012 – December 2013) which culminated in the St. Petersburg summit. The author makes attempt to estimate viability of discussed approaches and decisions against the background of the actual problems of global economy. The author pays special attention to the St. Petersburg summit’s approaches to the problems of providing favorable conditions for strong and sustainable economic growth and of addressing unemployment. The point is how to achieve an acceptable compromise between the purposes of fiscal and monetary policies, on the one part, and providing balanced state budgets, as well as price stability, on the other part. Also, the importance of a wide range of radical structural reforms is stressed. The author argues that Russia proposed to vital themes to discuss at G-20 summit: long-term financing for investment as a foundation for economic growth and improvement of public debt management practices. The article describes the principal provisions of the Declaration and the Action plan related to various aspects of the reconstruction of financial and monetary system, including: tackling tax avoidance; implementing the Basel-3 standards, dealing with the adequacy of the bank’s capital; ending «too big to fail» problem; reforming over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market; reducing reliance on the credit rating agencies; addressing potential risks for financial stability posed by the shadow banking; increasing financial inclusion, financial education and strengthening financial consumer protection; eliminating the international misbalances through broad based rebalancing of global demand; resisting of all forms of protectionism and promoting liberalization of global trade and investment; moving towards exchange rate flexibility to avoid persistent exchange rate misalignment; transforming the International Monetary Fund and Financial Stability Board. The author points to significant achievements of G-20 as a coordinating body for economic crisis management and, at the same time, discloses obstacles complicating its activities and development.