The G20's growth agenda

Provides a guide to the policies that G20 members will have to tackle to achieve the G20’s 2 per cent growth target, drawing on the recommendations of the IMF, OECD and a number of international think tanks. Key findings A key initiative in Australia’s 2014 G20 Presidency is to lift global growth by more than 2 per cent over five years above what the IMF was forecasting in the October 2013 World Economic Outlook. The Brisbane Action Plan, to be released at the Brisbane Leaders’ Summit, will detail the new policy measures proposed by G20 members to achieve the growth target. Since the target is for an extra 2 per cent in global growth, it will require extra policy measures. To have credibility, the additional policy steps outlined in the Brisbane Action Plan should cover the policy gaps that the IMF and OECD have identified for each G20 member. Significant structural reforms will be required by G20 members. Such reforms are often contentious and the IMF and OECD have warned there is a high implementation risk. To help maintain political momentum in advancing the reforms, G20 members should commit to the international organisations regularly publishing implementation reports for each G20 member along with overall progress towards meeting the G20’s growth target. The date for the first progress reports should be agreed at the Brisbane Summit.