SARB's Kganyago calls for narrower scope for G20 agenda

JOHANNESBURG - South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said that the G20 tracks had their hands full as policymakers continue to meet to address G20 priorities.

During South Africa's G20 presidency this year, the bloc’s member states are expected to focus on economic growth, food security, energy security and climate change.

While still considered a premier forum to address global challenges, Kganyago raised some frustration earlier this week about the G20 agenda being too overloaded and too complex for effective decision-making.

Kganyago said that casting the policy net too wide was among the reasons why an earlier meeting failed to find consensus, with climate financing a sticking point.

The governor was speaking at the second G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Washington DC on Thursday, where he again called for a narrower scope for the agenda.

"For the South African presidency, in the finance track for example, we decide we would have a focus with respect to cross-border payments for a reason and its because the cost of remittances in the African continent had proved to be higher than other parts in the world. But importantly, there was also political commitment to bringing down the cost of cross-border payments."