Germany to Defend Trade at G20 Meeting in Washington

Reuters

Germany will at G20 talks this week in Washington stress the importance of globalization and free trade for growth as well as the need for reforms to increase resilience against future shocks, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

The official said Germany, which holds the rotating presidency of the group of the world's 20 biggest economies, expects some G20 peers like the United States to demand that it take measures to reduce its high current account surplus.

The official added that Germany will publish a chairman's summary instead of a joint communique after the meeting in Washington as G20 finance ministers had summarized their joint positions only five weeks ago during talks in Baden Baden.

"This time, that's not unusual at the G20, there won't be a communique", the official said ahead of the meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 major economies, known as the G20.

The G20 meeting will take place on the sidelines of the bi-annual conference of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington, which is from Thursday until Sunday.

(Reporting by Michael Nienaber,; Editing by Joseph Nasr)