G20 finance leaders agree to take actions to tackle food insecurity

A two-day meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) of the Group of 20 (G20) ended on Saturday in Indonesia's Bali resort island, resulting in a consensus to consolidate collaboration and cooperation to tackle mounting food security crisis and related challenges.

"All finance leaders are in one voice that this food crisis issue needs a serious intervention," Finance Minister of host country Indonesia, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, told a press conference after the meeting.

She emphasized that G20 members would together fix the supply chain flows immediately through a common policy that facilitated the distribution of food from the production sector to the countries in need.

"We must facilitate the food supplies from the production sector to other countries in need. This is a strong signal for us to overcome (the food crisis)," Indrawati said.

Besides finance ministers and central bank governors from G20, the meeting was also attended by high level officials from the World Trade Organisation, the Food and Agricultural Organisation, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the United Nations.

Indrawati also summarized that all delegates discussed the exit strategies and scaring effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the imbalance of supply and demand and soaring commodity and energy prices caused by the pandemic and recent geopolitical tensions.

"All of us have been committed to using all of our policy tools to maintain long-term fiscal stability," she added.

In the morning session, Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo said that G20 central bank governors talked about the inflation occurring worldwide caused by soaring prices in commodities and the preparation to face another possible pandemic in the future.

"We also discussed strengthening the resilience of non-bank financial institutions, financial risks of climate change, the future of crypto assets, digital and inclusive economy, and data gaps initiatives," Warjiyo said.

He underlined the importance of focusing on solutions and spreading positivity to the global community related to efforts in accelerating the global recovery.

However, the FMCBG meeting ended without a formal communique.

"I think all of us understand that this year's G20 meeting is challenging as we are facing a difficult time due to geopolitical tensions," Indrawati said, adding that all consultations and discussions would continue.