Communiqué 

Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, 

23 April 2010 

1. We, the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, met in Washington 

D.C. to ensure the global economic recovery and the transition to a strong, sustainable 

and balanced growth as well as our agendas for the financial regulatory reform and 

international financial institutions remain on track. 

2. The global recovery has progressed better than previously anticipated largely due to 

the G20’s unprecedented and concerted policy effort. However, it is proceeding at 

different speeds within and across regions, and unemployment is still high in many 

economies. We recognize that in such circumstances different policy responses are 

required. In economies where growth is still highly dependent on policy support and 

consistent with sustainable public finances, it should be maintained until the recovery 

is firmly driven by the private sector and becomes more entrenched. Some countries 

are already exiting. We should all elaborate credible exit strategies from extraordinary 

macroeconomic and financial support measures that are tailored to individual country 

circumstances while taking into account any spillovers. We emphasized the necessity 

to pursue well coordinated economic policies that are consistent with sound public 

finances; price stability; stable, efficient and resilient financial systems; employment 

creation; and poverty reduction. Countries who have the capacity should expand 

domestic sources of growth. This would help cushion a decline in demand from 

countries that should boost savings and reduce fiscal deficits. 

3. Our Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth for the global 

economy is a key mechanism through which we will continue to work together to 

address the challenges associated with achieving a durable recovery and our shared 

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objectives. In accordance with our timetable set out in St Andrews, we have conducted, 

with support from the IMF and World Bank, the initial phase of our cooperative and 

consultative mutual assessment process for the Framework by sharing our national and 

regional policy frameworks, programs and projections, assessing their collective 

consistency with our objectives, and producing a forward-looking assessment of 

global economic prospects. We further provided guidance to the IMF, and other 

international organizations, to assist us in assessing collective implications of national 

policies that could improve our global economic prospects and bring us closer to our 

shared objectives. For this purpose, we have agreed on principles to direct the 

development of alternative policy scenarios and have further elaborated the objectives 

of strong, sustainable and balanced growth as outlined in the Annex to this 

Communiqué. Drawing on these inputs we will deliver an initial set of policy options 

for consideration by our Leaders at the June 2010 Summit. 

4. Recognizing the increasingly integrated nature of the financial regulatory reform 

issues, we reaffirmed our strong commitment to fully implement our reform agenda on 

the timelines agreed by Leaders in London and Pittsburgh. Good progress is being 

made and, to maintain the momentum, we: 

y reaffirmed our reform is multi-faceted but at its core must be stronger capital 

standards, complemented by clear incentives to mitigate excessive risk-taking 

practices. We recommitted to developing by end-2010 internationally agreed rules 

to improve both the quantity and quality of bank capital and to discourage 

excessive leverage. These rules will be phased in as financial conditions improve 

and economic recovery is assured, with the aim of implementation by end-2012. 

Implementation of these new rules should be complemented by strong supervision. 

We stressed the importance of the quantitative and macroeconomic impact studies 

underway and look forward to an update on their progress by the FSB for our June 

meeting. 

y agreed to closely review the progress of and provide guidance and strong support 

for the work of the FSB, BCBS and IMF. We support the work of the FSB to 

develop prudential standards, market infrastructures to contain the propagation of 

shocks and resolution tools and frameworks for systemically important financial 

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institutions and look forward to a progress report for our meeting in June 2010. We 

look forward to receiving the IMF’s final report on the range of options that 

countries have adopted or are considering as to how the financial sector could 

make a fair and substantial contribution towards paying for any burdens associated 

with government interventions to repair the banking system. We call on the IMF 

for further work on options to ensure domestic financial institutions bear the 

burden of any extraordinary government interventions where they occur, address 

their excessive risk taking and help promote a level playing field, taking into 

consideration individual country’s circumstances. We welcomed the FSB, IMF and 

BCBS’s joint report on the inter-linkages between these issues and noted that, 

moving forward, we need to take into account the cumulative impact of the 

reforms on the financial system and the wider economy to move unequivocally in 

the direction of sound and stronger capital and liquidity framework ; and 

y stressed the importance of achieving a single set of high quality, global accounting 

standards; implementing international standards with regard to compensation 

practices and welcomed the FSB’s report; completing the development of 

standards for central clearing and trading on exchanges or electronic platforms of 

all standardized over-the-counter derivative contracts, where appropriate, and 

reporting to trade repositories of all over-the-counter derivative contracts; and 

consistent and coordinated oversight of hedge funds and credit rating agencies. We 

welcomed the progress by the Financial Action Task Force in the fight against 

money laundering and terrorist financing, particularly regarding the issue of a 

public statement on jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies last February. We also 

welcomed the report by the Global Forum on Tax Transparency and Exchange of 

Information, the launch of the peer review process, and the development of a 

multilateral mechanism for information exchange which will be open to all 

countries. We welcomed the launch of the evaluation process by the FSB on the 

adherence to prudential information exchange and cooperation standards in all 

jurisdictions. 

5. We noted the draft report on the scope of energy subsidies and suggestions for the 

implementation of the Pittsburgh commitment from the IEA, OPEC, OECD and World 

Bank. In accordance with country ownership and circumstances and recognizing the 

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importance of providing those in need with essential energy services, we recommitted 

to prepare strategies and timetables for our meeting in June to rationalize and phase 

out, over the medium term, of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful 

consumption. 

6. We urged progress to deliver on the representation and governance reforms of the 

International Financial Institutions agreed in Pittsburgh. We urged the IMF to deliver 

the quota and governance reforms by the November Seoul Summit. We look forward 

to an agreement on a package of voice reforms and World Bank financial resources, 

together with reforms to ensure effectiveness, at the upcoming Development 

Committee meeting. We will work towards ambitious IDA16 and African 

Development Fund replenishments. We welcomed the agreement in principle to 

increase the capital of the IaDB and EBRD and to adopt a robust reform agenda and 

look forward to the conclusion of discussions on general capital increase of the 

African Development Bank. We agreed to support full relief of Haiti’s debt by all IFIs, 

including through burden sharing, and welcomed the agreement at the IaDB and 

World Bank to relieve its debt and the establishment of the Haiti Reconstruction Fund. 

7. We acknowledged the progress achieved by the Financial Inclusion Experts Group 

and look forward to the successful launch of the ‘SME Finance Challenge’. We 

welcomed the work of the Financial Safety Nets Experts Group and agreed to look at 

policy options to improve global financial safety nets, based on sound incentives, to 

better assist countries to deal with volatility in global capital flows. Inefficient markets 

and excess volatility in commodity prices more generally negatively affect both 

producers and consumers. We will finalize our work to address excessive commodity 

price volatility by improving the functioning and transparency of physical and 

financial markets in both producing and consuming countries. 

 

8. We agreed to meet again on June 4-5 2010 in Busan, Republic of Korea, to prepare 

for the June Leaders’ Summit in Toronto, Canada. 

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The G-20 Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth 

The primary goal of the Framework is to encourage G20 countries to implement coherent mediumterm policy frameworks to attain a mutually beneficial growth path and avoid future crises. While 

G20 countries should adopt policy frameworks that are appropriate to their individual circumstances, 

there are clear benefits to collective action to achieve this goal. Such an approach would also raise 

living standards in emerging markets and developing countries. 

Given that it may take several years to realise the benefits of many policy reforms, G20 countries 

should consider initiating actions now to attain stronger, and more balanced and sustainable growth 

over the medium term. Policy frameworks should be forward looking to guide expectations and to 

be sufficiently flexible to manage potential risks and facilitate adjustment to shocks so that strong, 

sustainable and balanced growth can be maintained. 

The objectives of strong, sustainable and balanced growth are closely related and need to be 

pursued in a way that is mutually reinforcing.

Strong growth should

a. Close current output and employment gaps in G20 countries as soon as possible, 

b. Converge to the growth rate of potential output over the medium term, and 

c. Be enhanced over the long term by increasing potential output growth, primarily by 

efficiently utilizing available resources through the implementation of more effective 

structural policies. 

Sustainable growth should be:

a. In line with underlying potential growth over the medium term, thereby providing a firm 

basis for long term growth, 

b. Based on sustainable public finances and price and financial stability, 

c. Resilient to economic and financial shocks, 

d. Determined primarily by competitive market forces, and 

e. Consistent with social and environmental policy goals.

 Balanced growth should: 

a. Be broadly based across all G20 countries and regions of the world, 

b. Not generate persistent and destabilizing internal or external imbalances, and

c. Consistent with broad development goals, in particular, convergence to high standards of 

living across countries in the long run.

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In providing this support to the G-20, the Fund should be informed by the general principles to which 

G-20 Leaders agreed last year in Pittsburgh 

(http://www.pittsburghsummit.gov/mediacenter/129639.htm). In addition to this context, the Fund 

should be guided by the following principles in developing the alternative policy scenarios: 

1. The Fund should present a limited number of alternative policy scenarios to Deputies (i.e., no 

more than 3-4); 

2. All scenarios must include policies aimed at ensuring a collective outcome that brings the G20 closer to its shared objectives as laid out above; 

3. All scenarios must demonstrate a shared contribution to adjustment and reform across the G20 and that the mutual benefits of strong, sustainable and balanced growth should be broadly 

shared, taking into account the different stages of development for countries as well as the 

spillover effects across G-20 and non G-20 countries; 

4. The Fund should consider the specific and feasible fiscal, monetary, structural and financial 

sector policy actions necessary to achieve our overarching objectives of strong, sustainable 

and balanced growth over the medium term; 

5. The broad social, environmental and development impacts of the proposed policy 

recommendations in the scenarios should be considered; 

6. The policy scenarios should consider the choices between the pace of implementing policy 

actions and their feasibility, credibility and effectiveness. As well, consideration should be 

given to the choices of raising global growth and of achieving more sustainable and balanced 

growth; 

7. Given that it may take several years to realise the benefits of many policy reforms, the 

scenarios should consider the actions that can be taken now to attain stronger, and more 

balanced and sustainable growth over the medium term; 

8. Policy actions for June should be expressed as actions for groups of countries facing similar 

circumstances, and regional economic institutions where appropriate, taking into account 

different national and regional economic structures and policy frameworks; and 

9. The Fund should closely consult with G-20 countries throughout the process when assessing 

the sustainability and stability of an individual country’s macroeconomic policy. 

In adopting these principles, the Fund’s report on alternative policy scenarios should clearly describe 

the global effects of adjustment, as well as the implications for member countries across a spectrum 

of indicators. 

We will ask the World Bank to advise us on progress in promoting development and poverty 

reduction as part of rebalancing of global growth. 

We also look forward to contributions from other international organizations, including the FSB on 

financial policies, the ILO on labor market policies, the WTO on trade policies, and the OECD and 

UNCTAD where appropriate.