24 August 2006
South Africa's Reserve Bank and National Treasury will jointly chair the Group of Twenty (G20) in 2007, Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni announced in Pretoria on Wednesday.
The G20 was established in 1999 as a forum for the central bank governors and finance ministers of the world's major developed and emerging market economies to discuss issues around global economic development and financial stability.
Including both the G8 and the most influential emerging countries, the G20 is a key forum on global economic development and governance, covering two-thirds of the world's population and 90% of world output.
Chairing the G20 will give South Africa the opportunity to play host to the world's leading finance ministers and central bank chiefs, and to shape the agenda of the G20's meetings, which are also attended by the heads of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
From G7 to
G20
The first attempt to co-ordinate the world's economies was the G7, formed in the wake of the first major international oil crisis in 1976. Its members were Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US.
The G7 became the G8 when Russia joined the club in the late 1990s, but the body has struggled to retain its legitimacy with the emergence of new world powers such as China, India, South Korea and Brazil.
The G20, an initiative of then US President Bill Clinton's administration in 1999, was a response to the failure of the G8 and the IMF to deal with the Asian financial crisis.
The G20 comprises the G8 countries and: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, European Union, India, Indonesia, Korea, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey.
The G20 was chaired by Canada in its first three years, followed by India, Mexico, Germany and China. Australia is the current chair, and the main 2006 meeting of the G20 will take place in Melbourne on 18 and 19 November.
International connections
South Africa's Reserve Bank maintains links with a number of international financial institutions.
This year, the Bank signed memoranda of understanding with the central banks of Argentina and Ukraine, and discussions on co-operation agreements with the central banks of China and Peru are progressing well, Mboweni told journalists on Wednesday.
The Reserve Bank also continues to host the secretariat of the committee of central bank governors of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Mboweni said good relations with central banks in the southern African region had been boosted this year with the signing of three cooperation agreements in the areas of information technology, exchange control and payment systems.
The SA Reserve Bank College also plays a key role in training the staff members of central banks and financial institution across the continent.
In May, Mboweni was appointed a member of the IMF's Committee of Imminent Persons, tasked with studying the long-term sustainability of the IMF's finances.
The month before that, in April, South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel was appointed to serve on the World Bank's new Commission on Growth and Development.
SouthAfrica.info reporter and BuaNews
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