WORLD
Japan chairs G20 finance ministers' meeting
Baku, April 8, AZERTAC
Finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of 20 major economies will meet this week to discuss the world economy.
The meeting will take place on Thursday and Friday in Washington. It will be the first ministerial-level meeting in the run-up to the G20 leaders' summit in June in Osaka.
Finance Minister Taro Aso and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will lead the discussion, as Japan assumed the presidency of the group this year.
On the first day, the topic of Brexit will likely come up as ministers discuss the current state of the world economy and its prospects. British Prime Minister Theresa May has not been able to get Parliament to approve her deal with the EU.
On the second day, the ministers are expected to discuss the current-account imbalances that are at the root of US-China trade friction.
Japan plans to stress the importance of international cooperation to fix those imbalances.
Other topics to be discussed include how to regulate cryptocurrencies. The G20 countries plan to share a list of oversight offices to block the use of virtual currencies for money laundering.