Summit Outcomes

G-20 leaders met in Toronto, under the new role of the G-20 as the premier forum for international economic cooperation and at a critical juncture in the global economic recovery.  Leaders reaffirmed their collective resolve to safeguard and strengthen recovery and foster strong, sustainable and balanced growth.

Sustainable and Balanced Growth

At the Pittsburgh Summit, the G-20 had agreed to take action to address imbalances in the global economy by launching the Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth. The Framework committed G-20 countries to evaluate their national policies to ensure they are collectively consistent with more sustainable and balanced trajectories of growth.

In Toronto, G-20 leaders reviewed progress under the Framework and agreed on specific measures to be undertaken over the medium-term that will help ensure recovery of the global economy and put it on a path to strong and sustainable growth.  In particular, they agreed that G-20 members will complete their planned fiscal stimulus and that advanced members will at least halve their deficits by 2013 and stabilize government debt-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratios or put them on a downward path by 2016.  Leaders also agreed on actions to be taken by G-20 members to bolster global growth as the process of fiscal consolidation gets underway in many countries. 

Leaders also made important decisions regarding future policy coordination under the Framework.  They agreed that the second phase of the Framework’s mutual assessment process will be conducted at the country and European level, with a comprehensive action plan to be developed by the next G-20 leaders’ summit in Seoul, Korea in November 2010.

Financial Sector Reform

At the Pittsburgh Summit, leaders agreed on actions necessary to strengthen financial regulatory systems in order to avoid a return to the excessive risk-taking that contributed to the recent global economic and financial crisis.  At the G-20 Toronto Summit, leaders reviewed progress on the financial sector reform agenda.  Leaders agreed that the amount and quality of capital held by our banks must be significantly higher and that higher standards must be complemented with strengthened supervision.  They also committed to ensure that the G-20 countries have all the powers and tools to resolve financial institution crises and to adopt principles to guide implementation, while recognizing that specific policy approaches will vary from country to country. 

Reform of International Financial Institutions

International financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have played an integral role in the response to the economic crisis by providing resources to achieve financial stability and assistance to those hardest hit by the downturn.

In Toronto, G-20 leaders announced that the lending capacity of the multilateral development banks had been doubled through $350 billion in general capital increases, which will bolster capacity of the international financial institutions to help those most vulnerable.  Leaders also endorsed reforms agreed by World Bank shareholders in spring 2010 that will see an increase in the voting power of developing and transition countries within the organization. They also underscored their resolve to ensure ratification by all G-20 members of quota and voice reforms agreed at the IMF in 2008, and called for an acceleration of the substantial work still needed for the IMF to complete additional quota and governance reforms. 

Global Trade and Growth

The G-20 has been largely successful at avoiding the types of protectionist measures that turned the stock market crash of 1929 into the Great Depression. In Pittsburgh, leaders committed to continuing efforts to guard against protectionism and to liberalize trade. Canada, which has unilaterally lowered tariffs as part of its stimulus package, worked with G-20 partners to encourage ongoing efforts towards further liberalization.

In Toronto, recognizing that global trade is a driver for growth, the G-20 leaders extended their commitment to resist protectionism for an additional three years, until 2013, and agreed to continue their efforts to bring the World Trade Organization Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations to a balanced and ambitious conclusion as soon as possible.  They also committed to maintain momentum for Aid for Trade, which helps developing countries participate more fully in global trade.