Aurelia Butler

WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) – Top officials from Britain, the United States and Canada walked out on Russia’s representatives at a Group of 20 meeting on Wednesday and many members spoke to condemn Moscow’s war in Ukraine, exposing deep divisions in the bloc of major economies.Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who chaired the meeting of G20 finance officials in Washington, acknowledged the body faced unprecedented challenges but called for cooperation to overcome headwinds slowing global growth.”This is an extraordinary situation,” Indrawati told reporters after the daylong meeting. “It’s not business as usual, a very dynamic and challenging one.”The G20 includes Western countries that have accused Moscow of war crimes in Ukraine, as well as China, India, Indonesia and South Africa which have not joined Western-led sanctions against Russia over the conflict. Indrawati said many countries spoke out against the war at the meeting, although she did not identify them.”In order for us to be able to recover together … we need more and even stronger cooperation,” Indrawati told a briefing. “The G20 is still … the premier forum for all of us to be able to discuss and talk about all the issues.”U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told attendees she strongly disapproved of a senior Russian official’s presence at the meeting before she walked out, two sources told Reuters.She was joined by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde.Ukrainian officials, in Washington seeking billions of dollars of additional funding, also walked out of the meeting, a source familiar with the meeting said.Russian Deputy Finance Minister Timur Maksimov represented Moscow in person, while Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Russia’s central bank governor joined virtually, a second source said.Over five million Ukrainians have fled abroad since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, the biggest attack on a European state since 1945. The United States accuses Russia of committing war crimes in what Moscow calls a “special military operation”. Russia denies the allegations.NO ‘BUSINESS AS USUAL’One source added that Yellen told participants there could be “no business-as-usual” for Russia in the global economy, a view echoed by Indrawati, whose government is heading the G20 group this year.British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said in a tweet: “We are united in our condemnation of Russia’s war against Ukraine and will push for stronger international coordination to punish Russia.”Russia’s finance ministry did not mention the walkout in a statement issued after the meeting. It cited Siluanov as calling on the G20 not to politicize dialogue between members and stressing the grouping had always focused on the economy.He also complained about the damaging effect of Western sanctions, the statement said.”Another aspect of the current crisis is the undermining of confidence in the existing international monetary and financial system,” it said. “The safety of international reserves and the possibility of free trade and financial transactions are no longer guaranteed.”Lagarde urged Maksimov to convey to Moscow a clear message – to end the war in Ukraine, one of the sources said.G20 finance ministers and central bank governors met on the sidelines of a semi-annual conference held by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Washington, with the Ukraine war, food security and ongoing recovery from the coronavirus pandemic the key topics.Given the divisions, the group did not issue a communique. Instead, Indrawati read a statement summarizing the meeting and underscoring the importance of the body.Freeland, who is of Ukrainian descent and has made impassioned pleas on behalf of the country, said she walked out of a G20 plenary meeting to protest against Russia’s participation.”This week’s meetings in Washington are about supporting the world economy – and Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine is a grave threat to the global economy,” she said on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR), adding that Russia should not be participating.FRAGMENTATION FEARSIMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Wednesday acknowledged it was a “difficult moment” for the G20, a forum that has played a key role in coordinating the fight against COVID-19 and responding to the 2008-2009 financial crisis.But she said cooperation through the forum would continue. “There are clearly very, very unsettling facts we have to deal with,” said Georgieva, a Bulgarian native. “But we also recognize how interdependent we are … And it is so obvious that cooperation must and will continue.”Georgieva and Yellen have warned against a fragmentation of the global economy into geopolitical blocs, with the United States and market-driven democracies on one side and China, Russia and other state-driven economies on another. More

TOKYO (Reuters) -The yen’s recent declines have been driven by fundamentals and would be no reason for Japan to change its economic policy, including the central bank’s ultra-low interest rates, a senior International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said.The currency has plunged to two-decade lows against the dollar with the Bank of Japan (BOJ) continuing to defend its ultra-low rate policy in contrast with heightening chances of aggressive rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve.”What we’re seeing so far on the yen is driven by fundamentals,” Sanjaya Panth, deputy director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department, told Reuters late on Wednesday.”Economic policymaking should continue to look at fundamentals. We don’t see any reason to change economic policy because what’s happening right now reflects fundamentals.”When asked whether yen-buying currency intervention by Japanese authorities would be justified, Panth said the current policy stance was appropriate as conditions in the foreign exchange market were not disorderly.Once welcomed for the boost it gives to exports, a weak yen has emerged as a source of concern for Japanese policymakers as it inflates the already rising cost of importing food and fuel.Markets are rife with speculation Japan may act to combat further yen declines, such as by conducting yen-buying currency intervention, raise interest rates or tweak the BOJ’s dovish guidance on the future path of monetary policy.”As you know, a weak yen hasn’t been bad for Japan,” Panth said. “At the same time, it does affect households. It’s a little bit of a mixed bag,” he said in the interview.With inflation pressures still muted, there was no need for the BOJ to change its ultra-loose policy, Panth said.”Japan is in a very different situation compared with other advanced countries who have begun tightening monetary policy,” he said. “We do not see any need to change the accommodative monetary policy stance.”The BOJ is expected to raise this year’s inflation forecast but maintain its massive stimulus programme at its next policy meeting on April 27-28. More

Anglo American has joined rivals in reporting a weak start to the year after it grappled with effects from coronavirus pandemic and weather-related disruptions at its operations.Production in the three months to March was 10 per cent lower than the period a year ago because of Covid-related absenteeism and high rainfall in South Africa and Brazil, the London-listed miner said in a trading update on Thursday.“As a result, we are updating our platinum group metals, iron ore and metallurgical coal volume guidance for the full year,” said Mark Cutifani, the outgoing chief executive.The company increased its guidance on costs by 9 per cent, citing currency fluctuations and broader inflationary pressures, particularly the price of diesel, which it uses to power trucks at its sites.Anglo said operations at its Moranbah coking coal mine in Australia had been suspended following an accident in March and that it had lowered production guidance to 17mn-19mn tonnes, from 20mn-22mn previously, as a result.The statement was more positive, however, about prospects for the De Beers diamond division, saying rough diamond production had jumped 25 per cent and demand was strong. Analysts believe De Beers could benefit from the western sanctions imposed on Russian producer Alrosa.Anglo’s update came just hours after BHP, the world’s biggest miner, warned of a hit to copper and nickel production from pandemic-related absenteeism and social unrest in Chile. Rio Tinto and Vale have also issued weak first-quarter trading updates this week.“This challenging start to the year highlights the importance of adhering to our operating model to stabilise performance after the necessary disruptions of the last two years as we adapted to — and now learn to live with — Covid,” said Cutifani, who is being replaced by Duncan Wanblad, Anglo’s head of strategy and business development. More

The central bank’s weekly FOCUS survey compiles data from over 100 private economists for macroeconomic indicators, including inflation and interest rates. It was last released on March 28 and will be returned to normal next Tuesday, said the central bank. Central bank workers suspended the release of the survey and several other indicators in protest over wage demands. The strike, however, was paused on Tuesday, after the government signaled some disposition to grant salary adjustments.In charge of an aggressive monetary tightening to curb double-digit inflation, the Brazilian central bank has repeatedly said it will consider the convergence of market expectations to the official inflation targets in its policy dosage.Monitoring this data was seen as crucial at a time when consumer prices continue to surprise upwards, casting doubt on how far the tightening cycle would go. Rates stand at 11.75% from a 2% record low in March 2021, and policymakers had said one last hike of 100 basis points could wrap the process in May. The central bank said that it continued to have internal access to such information despite its interruption to the general public. More