The central bank governor of G20 chair South Africa warned Thursday that the ongoing trade talks sparked by US President Donald Trump’s tariff plans could prolong uncertainty in the global financial markets.
“In an environment where every country is negotiating bilaterally, these things could actually take a lot of time,” South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago told reporters during a media briefing in Washington organized by the G20.
This, he added, meant that the uncertainty that has roiled global financial markets could be around for a “long” time to come.
South Africa is chairing the G20 group of nations until November 2025, a complex task that involves coordinating a broad and fractious membership that includes the United States, China, Russia, the European Union and the African Union.
The G20 finance ministers and central bank governors held meetings in Washington during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s Spring Meetings, with Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent among those in attendance, South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana told reporters.
Unusually, the G20 did not put out either a communique or an official chairman’s statement about the gathering.
“We did reflect on the current economic development and the extent of the uncertainty that engulfed the financial markets as a result of the trade measures,” Lesetja said.
“What you are having is that the negotiations that are taking place are taking place bilaterally,” he said. “And it is very resource-intensive.”
“There was a call that we should restore the multilateral system… with respect to trade, which has the World Trade Organization at the center of those negotiations,” he added.
