Ministero dell'Economia e delle Finanze

Cape Town, 26 February 2025 – “The global economy faces slow growth, low productivity and risks deriving from high debt in many emerging markets, climate change and demographics. These scenarios are aggravated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with possible increases in commodity prices and growing geopolitical and trade tensions.” These were the words of the Italian Minister of the Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti at the G20 session dedicated to strengthening cooperation for macroeconomic growth.

“Protectionism, trade barriers and political uncertainty,” Giorgetti states “threaten growth and global value chains, increasing production costs and inflation and weakening economic resilience.” According to the minister “policy should balance support for growth and fiscal sustainability, prioritising spending efficiency and directing resources towards high-impact investments.” As the G20, Giorgetti concludes “we must continue to monitor economic risks and structural changes, promoting dialogue on these issues in line with the priorities proposed by the presidency.”

“Increasing defence spending must be a goal aimed at relaunching industry and growth. This is why we need to imagine a Recovery Plan for defence. If each country starts to move independently, the costs for the State will inevitably increase in an irrational way.” This is the position vigorously expressed by Minister Giorgetti at a circumscribed meeting of the European ministers of the G20 and reiterated during the bilateral meeting with the Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domański.

“We should aim at consolidating what has been achieved and avoid taking steps backwards,” Giorgetti said during the section dedicated to international taxation. “We must be aware that unilateral and uncoordinated approaches would create tensions between countries and an uncertain fiscal environment that would discourage investment. In this regard, it is also important to preserve the progress made on the so-called two-pillar solution and to continue to aim for a comprehensive solution for addressing the tax challenges raised by the digitalisation and globalisation of the economy. We can certainly work to simplify the global minimum tax to facilitate wider implementation.”

At the G7 meeting, the minister evoked ‘the shift from free trade to fair trade’ by sharing US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's (linked on video) analysis of unfair dumping policies by some countries such as China, but at the same time calling for solutions of common interest within the G7 countries. ‘We agree on the analysis of Chinese policies,’ he said, ‘but we must not create divisions within ourselves’. Giorgetti also stressed that ‘a trade war would harm us all. We must return to a regime of shared rules'. The meeting, which was attended by the G7 finance ministers, some of them in connection, and the central bank governors, was particularly appreciated by Giorgetti because it was ‘very frank. Let's take this opportunity,' he added, “to do the right trade, overcoming the WTO and unfair competition”.

The minister is in Cape Town for the first meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors under the presidency of South Africa and for the G7 meeting. International taxation was also among the topics addressed. “We are in a changing world, we must seize the opportunities and understand the risks,” said the minister. On the sidelines of the first day’s meetings, Giorgetti met with the Finance Ministers of Germany, Jörg Kukies, Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Al-Jadaan, and Turkey, Mehmet Şimşek. On the second day of meetings and discussions between finance ministers at the G20 and G7, the minister held talks with Swiss Federal President Karin Keller-Sutter and French Minister Éric Lombard.

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