G20 finance chiefs meet as Indonesia warns of energy, food catastrophe
Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs from top economies met in Indonesia Friday for talks on the fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with the host warning them failure to tackle energy and food crises would be catastrophic.
The two-day meeting on the resort island of Bali started under the shadow of a war that has roiled markets, spiked food prices and stoked breakneck inflation, a week after Moscow's top diplomat walked out of talks with the forum's foreign ministers.
In her opening remarks, Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati called on ministers to work together with a spirit of "cooperation, collaboration and consensus" because "the world is watching" for solutions.
"The cost of our failure is more than we can afford," she told delegates. "The humanitarian consequences for the world and for many low-income countries would be catastrophic."
Top global finance figures, including US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, will discuss the rebound from the coronavirus pandemic. But the impact of the Ukraine war –- weighing on an already brittle global recovery –- will top the agenda.
Yellen is expected to press G20 allies for a price cap on Russian oil to choke off President Vladimir Putin's war chest and pressure Moscow to end its invasion while bringing down energy costs.
No communique was issued at the end of that meeting.
