Brussels, 05/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in London on 2/3 December, the finance ministers and central bankers of the world's 7 most industrialised countries (G7) said that 'overall global growth remains and should continue to be solid although slowed by high and volatile oil prices.' In their final press release, largely echoing the sentiments of previous G7 and G8 meetings, the G7 noted: 'an ambitious outcome from the Doha Development Round by the end of 2006 is essential to enhancing global growth and reducing poverty.' The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, took advantage of chairing the meeting, attended also by Chinese, Indian, Brazilian and South African politicians, to call on Europeans to make a root and branch change to the Common Agricultural Policy, to which Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson reacted critically (see other article).
The G7 press release identified risks to growth, including 'rising protectionist sentiment, the possibility of increasing inflationary pressures and growing global imbalances, which have been exacerbated by high oil prices. We are each taking steps to address these imbalances as we set out at out last meeting. But more vigorous, mutually reinforcing action is now needed for the G7 and other countries to accelerate this process in a way that maximises sustained growth. Recognising the need for greater and wider partnerships, we continued our productive dialogue with key global economies. We reaffirm that exchange rates should reflect economic fundamentals. Excess volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates are undesirable for economic growth. We continue to monitor exchange markets closely and cooperate as appropriate. We expect that further flexible implementation of China's currency system would improve the functioning and stability of the global economy and the international monetary system. In September this year, the G7 welcomed the devaluation of the Chinese currency, the yuan, by the authorities in July, noting that further such devaluation would be required. 'We reviewed the steps taken since our last meeting to improve stability of the oil market and the global energy outlook, and our enhanced dialogue with oil producers. Significant investment is needed in exploration, production, energy infrastructure, and refinery capacity. We welcome the launch of the Joint Oil Data Initiative (JODI) database and stress the need to improve further the transparency of supply and demand data in the oil market, including through development of a global common standard for reporting oil reserves.'