jens weidmann : welcome remarks - " the g20 agenda under the german presidency " welcome remarks by dr jens weidmann, president of the deutsche bundesbank and chairman of the board of directors of the bank for international settlements, at the 9th annual iif g20 conference " the g20 agenda under the german presidency ", frankfurt am main, 15 march 2017. * * * 1. introduction timothy adams ladies and gentlemen it ’ s a great pleasure for me to welcome you to this conference, which is a joint event of the institute of international finance ( iif ) and the german g20 presidency. many thanks to you, tim and the iif team, for organising this conference, which is taking place for the ninth time, this year just ahead of the meeting of g20 finance ministers and central bank governors in baden - baden. the economist john kenneth galbraith is quoted as joking that “ business conventions are important because they demonstrate how many people a company can operate without. " i don ’ t want to get too drawn into the merits of his humorous remark, or whether it applies to banking conferences as well, but i will say that there are compelling reasons why this conference is, indeed, an important event. one reason is that it provides a good opportunity for dialogue between official and private sector leaders. this dialogue is particularly important in such challenging times, which is also reflected in the focus on very topical issues over the next two days. " a global crisis requires a global solution. " this simple statement by the g20 heads of state or government back in april 2009 – in the middle of the financial crisis – captured the essence of the cooperation between the key industrial countries and emerging market economies. and although the g20 is an informal body – or perhaps precisely for that reason – it is an important source of impetus. as the financial crisis unfolded, the g20 grew in status to become the dominant forum for economic cooperation worldwide. it played a key role in drawing the right conclusions from the crisis. but the job isn ’ t finished yet. additional efforts are necessary to make the global financial system more stable and the world economy more prosperous. there are therefore several issues of global importance on the permanent agenda of the g20 that will continue to be pursued. in this regard, the german presidency is building on the important achievements of preceding presidencies, with the aim of ensuring continuity in the g20 ’ s activities. just think, for example, of the growth strategies of

bank of japan ’ s may report of recent economic and financial developments1 bank of japan, 22 may 2002. * the bank ’ s view * * the pace of deterioration in japan ’ s economy has moderated, with production starting to pick up reflecting the increase in exports and progress in inventory adjustment. with regard to final demand, business fixed investment continues to decrease and private consumption remains weak. moreover, housing investment remains sluggish and public investment is on a downtrend. meanwhile, net exports ( real exports minus real imports ) are increasing due to the recovery in overseas economies. industrial production is starting to pick up, reflecting the increase in exports and also the further progress in inventory adjustment as a whole. however, firms are maintaining their stance on reducing personnel expenses given persistently strong excessiveness in employment. therefore, employment and income conditions of households continue to worsen, reflecting the decrease in the number of employees and the faster pace of decline in wages. turning to the outlook, with respect to domestic demand, business fixed investment is expected to follow a downtrend for a while, judged mainly from leading indicators and firms ’ investment plans. private consumption is also likely to remain lackluster mainly due to worsening employment and income conditions. in addition, government spending is basically projected to continue a downward trend. meanwhile, as for exporting conditions, overseas economies, especially in the u. s. and east asia, are likely to follow a recovery path. the worldwide inventory adjustment in it - related goods has come to an end except for some goods such as networking equipment. moreover, the yen is still lower than where it was last autumn. under these circumstances, exports are projected to continue a moderate recovery. industrial production is likely to follow a gradual uptrend supported by the increase in exports and also by the progress in inventory adjustment. this increase in production will help corporate profits to recover, particularly in the manufacturing sector, and is expected to gradually support domestic private demand such as business fixed investment. overall, japan ’ s economy is projected to stop deteriorating as a whole since an increase in exports and production will lead to an improvement in corporate profits and in turn, domestic private demand. however, in addition to the weak employment and income conditions, the pace of increase in exports and production is likely to remain modest on balance. therefore, it will take a while for the positive effects, stemming from the developments in exports and production, to spread across the nonmanufacturing sector, small firms