ST. PETERSBURG, Russia--World leaders insisted on a sense of urgency in tackling global economic problems at the close of a summit here on Friday, stressing concerns about growth and unemployment and putting a new focus on developing nations.
"Strengthening growth and creating jobs is our top priority," the Group of 20 large developed and emerging nations said in a 27-page statement signaling a continued move away from the past emphasis on repairing national budgets.
"One year ago we were talking about austerity and the crisis of the euro zone," said French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici.
"Today we're about growth on a global level instead of fiscal consolidation." In the statement, leaders promised to better regulate hedge funds, close global tax loopholes and put their national finances on a sustainable path.
Addressing the concerns of developing countries, the G-20 statement said monetary policy changes would be "carefully calibrated and clearly communicated."
But many of the leaders meeting in St. Petersburg face problems at home that will make executing the group's goals a challenge.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for example, said the group's road map for regulating the shadow banking system "now, of course, has to be put in place in accordance with this plan."
She promised the G-20 finance ministers would work on the plan's implementation when they meet again in Washington in October. With Syria dominating discussion at the summit, the leaders spent less time than planned discussing economic issues.
The focal point of economic concerns, meanwhile, appeared to have moved outside Europe to developing countries, which have seen outflows of capital since the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated that it could start to unwind its policy stimulus this year.
Central banks in Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey have raised interest rates in an attempt to draw capital back to their economies, while India's central bank also has taken steps to reduce pressure on its currency, the rupee.
"It was the first time in a long time that the euro crisis was not the focus of the debate," International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said after the summit. Challenges to the global economy, Ms. Lagarde said, now included central banks pulling back their easy-money policies, "which will expose countries to spillovers."
The biggest challenges to the world economy, the G-20 statement said, were "weak growth and persistently high unemployment."
That signaled a shift away from a focus on repairing national budgets, a priority for deficit hawks like Germany. The countries at the summit agreed to what was dubbed the St. Petersburg Action Plan, in which G-20 members laid out plans to put their economies on a more sustainable footing.
The euro zone, for example, promised "more rapid progress toward a banking union," while countries such as Canada and Argentina promised more infrastructure investment.
G-20 leaders also endorsed a plan on long-term investment financing that focused on how to draw a greater portion of global savings, make the investment environment more attractive and improve the structuring of long-term projects.
The World Bank is setting up a global infrastructure facility that aims to blend financing from member nations with private-sector money, in an initiative that it hopes will boost jobs and growth in developing countries at a time when their borrowing costs are rising, bank President Jim Yong Kim said in an interview.
Heading into the summit, the effect of the tightening of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve was a top concern for developing countries such as Brazil.
With investors anticipating an end to the Fed's stimulus program, the large inflows of money to emerging economies have begun to reverse, resulting in sharp falls in those countries' currencies. In the end, the G-20 countries promised to be clear in communicating monetary policy.
But they emphasized that developing countries needed to do more themselves to fix their economies. "Emerging markets agree to take the necessary actions to support growth and maintain stability," the G-20 statement said. -Stacy Meichtry and Thomas Catan contributed to this article.
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"Strengthening growth and creating jobs is our top priority," the Group of 20 large developed and emerging nations said in a 27-page statement signaling a continued move away from the past emphasis on repairing national budgets.
"One year ago we were talking about austerity and the crisis of the euro zone," said French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici.
"Today we're about growth on a global level instead of fiscal consolidation." In the statement, leaders promised to better regulate hedge funds, close global tax loopholes and put their national finances on a sustainable path.
Addressing the concerns of developing countries, the G-20 statement said monetary policy changes would be "carefully calibrated and clearly communicated."
But many of the leaders meeting in St. Petersburg face problems at home that will make executing the group's goals a challenge.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for example, said the group's road map for regulating the shadow banking system "now, of course, has to be put in place in accordance with this plan."
She promised the G-20 finance ministers would work on the plan's implementation when they meet again in Washington in October. With Syria dominating discussion at the summit, the leaders spent less time than planned discussing economic issues.
The focal point of economic concerns, meanwhile, appeared to have moved outside Europe to developing countries, which have seen outflows of capital since the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated that it could start to unwind its policy stimulus this year.
Central banks in Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey have raised interest rates in an attempt to draw capital back to their economies, while India's central bank also has taken steps to reduce pressure on its currency, the rupee.
"It was the first time in a long time that the euro crisis was not the focus of the debate," International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said after the summit. Challenges to the global economy, Ms. Lagarde said, now included central banks pulling back their easy-money policies, "which will expose countries to spillovers."
The biggest challenges to the world economy, the G-20 statement said, were "weak growth and persistently high unemployment."
That signaled a shift away from a focus on repairing national budgets, a priority for deficit hawks like Germany. The countries at the summit agreed to what was dubbed the St. Petersburg Action Plan, in which G-20 members laid out plans to put their economies on a more sustainable footing.
The euro zone, for example, promised "more rapid progress toward a banking union," while countries such as Canada and Argentina promised more infrastructure investment.
G-20 leaders also endorsed a plan on long-term investment financing that focused on how to draw a greater portion of global savings, make the investment environment more attractive and improve the structuring of long-term projects.
The World Bank is setting up a global infrastructure facility that aims to blend financing from member nations with private-sector money, in an initiative that it hopes will boost jobs and growth in developing countries at a time when their borrowing costs are rising, bank President Jim Yong Kim said in an interview.
Heading into the summit, the effect of the tightening of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve was a top concern for developing countries such as Brazil.
With investors anticipating an end to the Fed's stimulus program, the large inflows of money to emerging economies have begun to reverse, resulting in sharp falls in those countries' currencies. In the end, the G-20 countries promised to be clear in communicating monetary policy.
But they emphasized that developing countries needed to do more themselves to fix their economies. "Emerging markets agree to take the necessary actions to support growth and maintain stability," the G-20 statement said. -Stacy Meichtry and Thomas Catan contributed to this article.
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