The meeting mainly focused on the impact of the war in Ukraine and the effects of the sanctions that have been announced.
Ukraine’s Finance Minister, Serhiy Marchenko, joined the meeting upon invitation by Finance Minister Christian Lindner. All participants once again expressed their heart-felt solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. The G7 is unified in continuing to stand side-by-side with Ukraine. At the meeting, the G7 reaffirmed its commitment to keep supporting Ukraine financially.
The G7 finance ministers and central bank governors discussed the macroeconomic impact of the conflict and of the imposed sanctions. They believe that the sanctions are already having an effect and are isolating Russia both economically and financially. The G7 will continue to keep a watchful eye on the impact of the conflict and the sanctions and will closely coordinate responses within the G7. All participants agreed that the announced sanctions must be implemented resolutely and in a coordinated manner. This is the only way to ensure that they deliver their full impact and curb the conflict.
“It is important to note that the restrictions on the Russian Central Bank have exceeded our expectations. The rouble is in free-fall. Vladimir Putin’s war chest has been hit hard. The measure has a limited impact on us, but a maximum impact on Russia.”
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner commented on the effects of the sanctions
Multilateral efforts to overcome the global COVID-19 pandemic remain a priority of Germany’s G7 presidency. During the presidency, Germany is showing leadership and living up to its responsibilities. German Finance Minister Christian Lindner announced that Germany will provide an additional $1.5bn to the international pandemic response as part of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator and supporting measures. In this way, Germany is paying its fair share of $1.22bn and providing a further $253m or so for supplementary measures on the ground in developing countries, making it the world’s second-largest donor country of this initiative.
Further priorities of the G7 Finance Track include macroeconomic stability and the transformation of economies in the context of digitalisation and climate neutrality.