STRELNA, LENINGRAD REGION, September 5 (Itar-Tass) - The Group of Twenty (G20) has proved its ability to find solutions to delicate problems, President Vladimir Putin said in his opening remarks at the first working meeting of the G20 heads of state in St. Petersburg on Thursday, September 5.
The president noted the G20 was celebrating its fifth anniversary this year and therefore could “review some results of its work: what has been achieved and what has yet to be done.”
Economic growth and new jobs were chosen as a priority of Russia’s presidency in the Group of Twenty, Putin said and recalled that at the previous summit in Los Cabos in Mexico the leaders had stressed the need to create a sort of “firewall” against crises. “It should be based on a number of agreed upon steps. The first one is solving the fundamental task of reducing budget deficits and state debts in developed countries, including Europe. The second task is to eliminate serious gaps in financial regulation. The third one is to deal with the lack of resources in the International Monetary Fund,” Putin said.
He believes that these measures helped improve the situation and the most acute problems have either been solved or taken under control.
Putin welcomed the establishment of the European Stability Mechanism aimed at reducing the “explosive” connection between the state debt of some European countries and the stagnating banking system of the European Union.
“The Group of Twenty has proved its ability to find solutions to delicate issues but it is too early to relax. Our main task of restoring sustainable and balanced growth in the global economy is far from being solved. Therefore, systemic risks and conditions for a recurrence of the acute crisis remain,” the president said.