G-20 finance leaders eye ways to support pandemic recovery

Indonesian President Joko Widodo told financial leaders of the Group of 20 industrial economies that countries must avoid tensions and cooperate to support a recovery from the pandemic

JAKARTA -- Countries must avoid tensions and cooperate to support a recovery from the pandemic as it lingers in many parts of the world, Indonesian President Joko Widodo told a gathering of top financial leaders of the world's largest economies Thursday.

“The winter is coming," Widodo said in welcoming finance ministers and heads of central banks of the Group of 20 industrial nations.

“The pandemic is far from over, and the global economy is struggling," he said. “During this situation, no single country could recover alone. All countries are interconnected, no one is isolated."

The G-20 financial gathering comes as many economies are treading a precarious path between raising costs of borrowing to cool inflation and helping to support recoveries from the pandemic.