Business & Economy

Ukraine crisis can disrupt global recovery, Indonesia warns at G20 meet

Jakarta, Feb 17 (EFE).- Now is not the time to create fresh geopolitical tensions like Ukraine that can disrupt the already fragile global recovery, Indonesia President Joko Widodo Thursday told a gathering of finance ministers and central bank governors from the world’s top 20 economies.

The finance leaders met in Jakarta to discuss global economic recovery that faces new threats from inflationary pressures, the pandemic, and geopolitical tensions.

“The pandemic is not over yet, and the world economy is still in shock,” the president, popularly known as Jokowi, said in opening remarks.

The meeting will conclude on Friday.

Jokowi emphasized collaboration between regions to ensure global economic recovery and warned that “this is not the time for rivalry.”

“It is not the time to create new tensions that disrupt the world’s recovery, let alone endanger the safety of the world, as is happening in Ukraine today,” he warned.

The meeting conducted in the hybrid mode would focus on strategies for economic recovery, including the adjustment of monetary policies by many countries, digital payment systems, sustainable finance, financial inclusion, and a system of international taxation, the Indonesian finance ministry said in a statement.

“The role and leadership of the G20 is more important than ever,” the ministry said.

The meeting comes amid record daily Covid-19 infections in Indonesia, the worst hit in Southeast Asia.

This week, the country recorded over 57,000 new daily cases, the highest one-day count since the pandemic.

The current situation, partly due to the impact of the highly contagious omicron variant, led Indonesia to decide to hold the G20 meetings in Jakarta and not in Bali as planned.

Vaccination rates in the capital are higher.

Also participating in the meeting will be representatives of guest countries and organizations such as the World Bank and the World Health Organization, including its director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. EFE

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