Agro Perspectiva

Russia takes over G20 presidency

30.11.2012 16:03 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) — On December 1, Russia will take over the presidency of the «Big 20» from the group’s outgoing president — Mexico. During the next 12 months, it will spearhead the search for ways to reinvigorate global economic growth. On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin will deliver a video address to the G20, Voice of Russia reports. Next year, Russia will host its first G20 summit. It has already unveiled a list of its G20 presidency priorities. These include stimulating investment activity, boosting employment and improving the work of the International Monetary Fund. The G-20 is the world’s largest and most influential informal association of states accounting for 90% of the global GDP. Alexander Abramov, a prominent Russian economist and a professor of the Higher School of Economics’ Stock and Investment Market Faculty, points to the increasing role of the G20 in global economic processes. «The ‘Big 20’ assigns tasks to major financial organizations. For example, it set up the G20 Financial Stability Board headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. It’s a major committee tasked with determining future financial regulations, control mechanisms and the policy of central banks. It also oversees matters related to food security, transportation, ecology and other spheres.» Meeting in Mexico’s Los Cabos beach resort this summer, the G20 leaders agreed to pump an additional $456 billion into the International Monetary Fund as part of crisis prevention and to meet the financial needs of all IMF member states. Next year, the IMF will remain the focus of attention of the G20. Speaking in St. Petersburg on Thursday, the Kremlin chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov said that the BRICS Group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) would hold a series of top-level meetings and separate consultations with non-G20 countries and organizations during the G20 summit in St. Petersburg next September. The president of Chile has already received an invitation to the September summit. BRICS are poised to continue their push for greater influence in the IMF. They want to be certain that IMF decisions will not affect their own economies. The issue of including the national currencies of the BRICS countries into the SDR (Special Drawing Rights) basket of four global currencies officially used by the IMF remains on the agenda, says Russian analyst Alexei Vyazovksy of the Capital Finance investment group. «The struggle for the IMF leadership is going on. The quotas have been redistributed, which means that there should be more votes non-aligned with the United States on the IMF Board of Directors. The IMF quotas depend on member states’ contributions. If BRICS expands its share of fees, then control of the IMF should gradually shift to developing nations.» Russia has proposed a joint meeting of G20 finance and labor ministers to address employment issues in the global economic context. The September G20 summit will be preceded by meetings of finance ministers and central bank chiefs, the first of which is due to take place in Moscow in the middle of February.