US plans to reduce number of G-20 finance meetings during its chairmanship

By Erica Yokoyama, Kamil Kowalcze and Kate Sullivan

  Washington is set to begin its turn as chair of the Group of 20 by reducing the number of meetings among finance chiefs, people familiar with the matter said, in an apparent move to streamline the multilateral process.  

The US plans to forgo hosting a G-20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors typically held in February, the people said. A White House official said a meeting would still take place in February with the participation of the deputy finance ministers.

 

The G-20 framework generally entails dozens of working-level and ministerial discussions that culminate with a leaders’ summit. The finance ministers typically meet twice in the host nation and twice on the sidelines of International Monetary Fund and World Bank gatherings. Foreign ministers and trade ministers also typically hold separate meetings. 

 

Next year the US intends to hold only one host nation session with the finance ministers and central bankers in August, the people said. The US aims to tighten the schedule for the ministers, freeing up time for deeper discussions and returning the forum to its core focus on macroeconomic issues, the people said.

 

The move may also reflect President Donald Trump’s approach of prioritizing bilateral engagement over increasingly complex multilateral gatherings. Trump skipped the G-20 summit in Johannesburg in November, where a communique was issued despite the absence of the leader of the group’s largest economy, underscoring how little weight the US now places on the forum.

 

The US didn’t send Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to the finance gatherings in South Africa in February and July, although he did participate in the group’s sessions held in Washington in April and October on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank confab.

 

Over the past three years, the G-20 has been chaired by South Africa, Brazil and India. The host nations from the global south placed greater emphasis on issues such as debt restructuring, health and inequality in finance minister meetings, thorny issues that reduced the time available for traditional topics like macroeconomics and financial markets.

 

Also in recent years, the finance chiefs have been forced to spend more time on geopolitical disputes, particularly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and after violence in the Mideast flared. Divergent national positions often prevented the 20 members from issuing joint statements at the end of their two-day meetings.

 

In its statement upon assuming the presidency, the US said it would “return the G-20 to its original mission of delivering economic growth and prosperity,” citing the reduction of regulatory burdens as its top priority.