G20 Finance Ministers Meet in Bangkok as Iran Conflict Roils Global Economy

Finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 gathered in Bangkok, Thailand, on Thursday, amid an uncertain global economic outlook driven by the war between the US-Israel and Iran.

The meeting is being held alongside the annual conferences of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in the Thai capital from October 12 to 18.

Here are the key points about the event.

What are the G20, IMF and World Bank?

The G20 is an economic forum made up of 19 major economies, including the United States, China, Britain, Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, along with the European Union and the African Union.

The group holds an annually rotating chairmanship, currently held by the United States. Together, G20 members account for roughly 85 percent of global GDP and three-quarters of world trade.

The G20 was created in 1999 as a forum for finance ministers and central bank governors to address shared economic issues after the Asian financial crisis, before expanding into a higher-level forum for national leaders.

The IMF, headquartered in Washington, DC, is an international financial institution that promotes global cooperation on monetary policy, trade and economic growth. Its membership includes nearly every sovereign country in the world, with a few exceptions such as North Korea, Cuba, the Vatican and Monaco.

The World Bank, also based in Washington, DC, mainly provides loans and aid to developing countries. It has 189 member states.

The IMF and World Bank were founded at the 1944 Bretton Woods conference in the United States, convened by the Allied powers to shape the international financial order after World War II.

Who will attend?

Most G20 finance ministers and central bank governors will be present in Bangkok, along with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank Group President Ajay Banga.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will be notably absent from the meeting, despite being the top economic official of the world's largest economy and the holder of the G20 chairmanship. US officials cited “domestic commitments” for Bessent's decision to skip the event. Washington will be represented by Deputy Secretary Francis Brooke and Under Secretary for International Affairs Erin Browne.

This G20 meeting, one of several annual gatherings of the group's finance ministers, will help shape the agenda for the leaders' summit in Miami, Florida, scheduled for December 14-15.

What is on the agenda?

The economic fallout from the war between the US-Israel and Iran is expected to dominate discussions. Attacks across the Middle East have upended economic activity in the region, while transport disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz have sent energy prices soaring worldwide.

Crude oil prices have topped $100 a barrel for most of the past eight months, straining government and household budgets, particularly in the Gulf region and the rest of Asia.

Ahead of the meeting, Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he would use the talks to call for an end to the conflict in the Middle East and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz “because that is what the global economy desperately needs.”

“The war in the Middle East is having a devastating economic impact and driving up fuel prices, inflation and interest rates around the world,” Chalmers said in a statement.

Other issues likely on the agenda include the rising debt levels of many countries, which exceed 100 percent of GDP in the United States, Canada, Japan, Italy and France.

In a speech on Wednesday, Georgieva warned that mounting debt threatens the global economy and that there is no “magic” formula to help governments avoid raising taxes or cutting spending.

G20 members will also raise their own concerns based on their economic and geopolitical priorities. The United States, for instance, has repeatedly voiced concern about “global imbalances,” a phrase referring to China's state-led industrial model that floods foreign markets with cheap goods.

US President Donald Trump has long argued that China's large trade surplus, which reached $938 billion through September, proves that international trade is working against American manufacturers.

In a statement submitted to the IMF on Wednesday, Bessent called for action to address trade imbalances. “This includes in particular strengthening analysis and engagement on the role of non-market policies and practices as well as exchange rates in driving external imbalances,” Bessent said.

“Policymakers around the world are having difficult discussions about how to sustain a market-based system amid distortive policies from some economies that skew competition and hurt jobs.”

However, divisions and competing interests are clouding prospects for coordination. At the most recent G20 finance ministers' meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, on August 31 and September 1, member countries failed to issue a joint statement after China objected to language related to trade.