No Step Back From Bali Agreement On Ukraine Crisis: Spanish Economy Minister

Spain Minister of Economy Nadia Maria Calvino Santamaria on Saturday said G20 finance ministers should not "go back" on the language agreed by leaders in Bali Summit on Ukraine crisis continuing over a year. At the last G20 Summit in Bali in November 2022, the declaration read: "Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine." However, some member countries held "other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions". Russia, which is part of G20, calls its invasion of Ukraine as a "special military operation".

Almost a year back Russia invaded Ukraine and leaders of the world's top 20 economies, referred to as G20, are debating how it should be addressed in a joint communique that is to be issued later in the day after conclusion of first G20 finance ministers and central bank governors (FMCBG) meeting here.

Speaking to media on the sidelines of the FMCBG, Calvino said, "I will share with you the position of Spain, which is very much aligned with the G7 position that we cannot go back on the language that was agreed by our leaders in Bali. And these has to feature in the communique since the war is right now. The single most important factor bringing uncertainty and fragility to the world economy."

Expressing confidence in India's presidency, she said India continues to do an excellent job and will be able to find out maximum in terms of the consensus building efforts to try to have a communique. "I cannot confirm right now what the outcome is going to be as the work is still ongoing, but we have been able to make progress on many of the open issues and the key issue regarding language on the war," she said.

On the issue of debt relief, she said, there are different views around the table as to how to approach it but there seems to be shared agreement on the need to include it as one of the instruments that can provide support to most vulnerable countries. "There is a broad agreement on debt management and debt relief that these are very important instruments to provide financial support to most vulnerable countries. Discussions are ongoing and I think we are making progress on the communique with a will to ensure the multilateral framework provides clarity and certainty on how these debt management process is going to be conducted," she said.

Debt relief or restructuring is required for sustainence of Zambia, Sri Lanka and other countries. Among the sticking points is China's insistence that the World Bank and other multilateral lenders share in the pain of taking debt haircuts.