Governor Lesetja Kganyago delivers opening remarks — G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meeting

Governor, good morning. Thank you very much. This is by far the most important track of the G20. We have the summit, which is where the big decisions are taken, but the real hard work is done by the finance track because that is the history of the G20: to deal with global financial issues. I take this opportunity to welcome you all, the finance and central bank deputies, for this meeting under the South African presidency. I know you guys work very hard and you make the life of the governors and the ministers easier. I know you enjoy drafting too. I just wanted to remind you once again the basic rules of drafting: one is that the governors and ministers are not very good drafters. The second rule of drafting is that the number of drafters must be less than the number of readers. So that becomes very important. It's a pleasure to welcome you to Johannesburg, also known as JC, otherwise known as Jozi, or simply the City of Gold. I am sure that most of you were present in Washington DC when I gave remarks at the handover of the finance track from Brazil to South Africa. For me, it was a sobering moment which brought home the reality of the task ahead. The task has certainly not been easy so far. Still, in the run-up to today, we have benefited greatly from close collaboration with all of you, including the co-chairs and the international organizations. Your valuable insights have helped us tremendously as we thought through our priorities. I will not spend time talking through the various priority areas again, as you have also all received the issues notes and are familiar with our plans for the next 12 months. I will, however, underscore that in setting our priorities, we were guided by the need to represent the African continent and the emerging market and developing economies. Furthermore, at a more basic level, we thought it was important to simplify and streamline our discussions. Many of us here today are economists, of course, and as economists we respect the concept of scarcity. One of the scarce resources in global policy making is attention. There is only so much bandwidth available. If we crowd it with too many priorities, the messages get gobbled. Unfortunately, while in the abstract we can agree that less is usually more, in practice it's hard to say no to things. Because of this, it is unsurprising that the G20 agenda has become bloated. We aren't the first to be this, and we won't be the last. Still, we believe that by simplifying and streamlining, we can have more focused discussions and therefore more wins. For this reason, as you can tell from the agenda and the issues notes, we have decided not to add more working groups, and we have tried to narrow the agendas where possible. We have found, however, that as much as we all agree on the need to streamline, we remain hesitant to give up a little to reach that objective. And so I ask you, when providing your inputs today, please think about the bandwidth scarcity. Less is more. With this in mind, South Africa believes it is time to focus on implementation, take stock of where we are vis-à-vis our objectives, and agree on how we accelerate progress towards the 2030 sustainable development goals. It won't be easy, particularly in a global environment of geoeconomic fragmentation, escalating conflicts, and intensifying climate change. The spillovers from these risks are expected to further hamper progress and have a disproportionate impact on those countries that can least afford it. Within this context, the primary objective for our presidency, through our theme of solidarity, equality, and sustainability, is to reinvigorate the spirit of multilateralism within the G20 Finance Track. In Washington, we spoke about the concept of Ubuntu, and you would have seen this word in many places as you walked through today. This word recognizes our interconnectedness with each other, the essence of what the G20 is meant to be. I hope you will all feel this word come to life in our deliberations. As the Bretton Woods institutions celebrate eight decades since their founding, we appreciate the need to strengthen the global financial architecture to make it fit for purpose and effective for the world we live in today. We greatly value these institutions, and we want to make them still more effective, stronger, and more inclusive. On that note, while not 80 years, it has been more than 15 years since the onset of the global financial crisis and the establishment of the Financial Stability Board. In the short period of its existence, the Financial Stability Board stands out as one of the G20's most durable accomplishments. Despite a series of shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the March 2023 market turmoil, banking crises, and regional conflicts, the global financial system has remained broadly resilient, and macroeconomic shocks have been largely contained. This reflects genuine global cooperation to address emerging risks and vulnerabilities and protect the public good which is global financial stability. Notwithstanding this remarkable success, we cannot be complacent. There are concerns that the G20 has over the past few years faced challenges with the implementation of the recommendations from the FSB and other standard-setting bodies. We believe that the South African presidency presents a good opportunity to look back at the FSB work over the past 15 years and find practical solutions in enhancing implementation to ensure the continued resilience of the global financial system. Finally, we have been grappling with the problems of cross-border payments and fast payment systems. Given their importance to the continent and to many others around the table, we have raised this as one of our flagship priorities. We know the importance of payments for achieving greater financial inclusion and ultimately supporting sustainable economic development. Let me conclude by giving some background to the G20 logo. The main element of South Africa's G20 logo is the king protea, the national flower of South Africa. It embodies resilience, local pride, and natural splendor. It is able to regenerate after fires, mirroring the country's spirit of renewal and hope. The flower serves as a reminder that even in adverse circumstances, there is always a chance to flourish. We look forward to the continued cooperation and support of all G20 members during South Africa's G20 presidency in the spirit of Ubuntu. Once again, let me thank you and wish you fruitful meetings and an enjoyable stay in South Africa, and look forward to welcoming you again in Cape Town in February.