G7 Finance Ministers to meet in Japan to tackle global economic challenges
The Hindu
The financial leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy nations meet in Japan beginning on May 11 as a standoff over the U.S. debt ceiling
The financial leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy nations meet in Japan beginning on May 11 as a standoff over the U.S. debt ceiling. Potential default looms as one of the biggest threats to the global economy.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said one of her priorities in Niigata, a port city on the Japan Sea coast, would be to emphasize the importance of resolving the standoff over the national debt in the world’s largest economy.
“A default is frankly unthinkable,” she told reporters before the broader meetings began. “America should never default. It would rank as a catastrophe,” she said.
She said the impasse over spending risks leaving the government unable to pay for teachers in classrooms, medical care for veterans, and vital benefits to many Americans. It also is undermining U.S. economic leadership.
While in Japan, Ms. Yellen is also bound to seek to reassure her counterparts over recent bank failures that have raised worries over risks for the global financial system.
The Finance Ministers and central bank governors are meeting for three days ahead of a G-7 summit later this month in Hiroshima.
President Joe Biden said on May 10 that he and congressional leaders had a “productive” meeting on May 9 on trying to raise the nation’s debt limit. They will meet again on Friday to try to avert the risk as soon as June 1 of an unprecedented government default if lawmakers in the divided Congress don’t agree to raise the debt ceiling.