G20 Candid discussions on oil, currencies at meeting says South Africa's Manuel
KLEINMOND, South Africa (Thomson Financial) - The G20 meeting here today provided a platform for candid discussions among the world's richest and leading developing nations on key issues such as currencies and oil, Trevor Manuel, South Africa's finance minister said today.
At a press briefing as the meeting of finance ministers and central bankers came to an end, Manuel said talks had been fruitful, but hinted too that talks had been at times tough.
One key issue was the dollar's steep falls leading to calls for the US to reaffirm its strong dollar policy.
Manuel said the issue was raised, but added that the strong dollar policy has been 'articulated strongly' and repeatedly by various US officials including President George Bush and successive treasury secretaries.
He had fewer words to say on the Chinese yuan, which is currently tightly managed by the Chinese authorities.
China is under a lot of the pressure to allow its currency to appreciate faster but the G20's official communique only made a broad reference to the undervalued yuan, calling on greater currency flexibility among countries that run current account surpluses.
Oil too was a key issue as the price of a barrel closes in on the 100 usd level, driving inflationary pressures globally.
'There have been significant changes in energy and food prices, it is a global concern and is having a profound effect,' said Manuel.
He added that the key question revolves 'around the adequacy of supply' but did not elaborate on how much pressure his Saudi Arabian counterpart was put under during the G20 meeting.
