Help small businesses, low-income earners, Arkhom tells G20 ministers
At this week's G20 meeting, Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith suggested that governments introduce financial measures to help small businesses and low-income earners in the face of a global economic recession.
The meeting brought together finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 (G20) countries.
Arkhom told them that rising prices of consumer goods and energy have become a huge challenge, with high inflation threatening to lead to economic recession.
Finance Ministry spokesman Pornchai Theeravet said on Saturday that Arkhom made the remarks while attending the two-day meeting in Washington DC at the invitation of Indonesia’s Finance Ministry, which hosted this year’s gathering on Wednesday and Thursday.
The meeting was attended by representatives from the European Union, eight industrial countries — United Kingdom, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Germany, United States and Australia — as well as 11 large economies, namely Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey.
The G20 countries account for 80 per cent of the global economy and two-thirds of the world’s population.
This year’s G20 summit of finance ministers and central bank governors, held along the theme “Recover Together, Recover Stronger”, discussed six topics — global economy, international financial architecture, financial sector regulation, infrastructure investment, sustainable finance and sustainable taxation.
The meeting agreed to consider all tools necessary to address food and energy insecurity as well as the rising cost of living in many countries. It also highlighted the importance of cooperation to ensure a coordinated global response to tackle food insecurity.
The meeting reaffirmed G20’s commitment to the implementation of an international tax package while looking toward the implementation of the Asia Initiative Declaration on International Taxation, which calls for improved transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes.
On Thursday, Arkhom also met with senior executives from the financial institutions HSBC and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, said Pornchai, who doubles as director of the Finance Ministry’s Fiscal Policy Office.
The executives of the two financial institutions voiced their confidence in the Thai economy and the government’s policies on investment for long-term development, the spokesman said.
