Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana gives good news

South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said the Group of 20 nations are nearing a deal on a communique.

“We are closer to making a deal and achieving a consensus that will emerge as a communique tomorrow,” Godongwana said in a Bloomberg Television interview Thursday on the sidelines of a G-20 meeting in the eastern coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal. “I suspect a communique will emerge,” he said.

South Africa, which assumed the presidency from Brazil in December, has been unable to get a consensus on a communique at two previous G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors’ meetings this year.

Sustainable financing and global imbalances have been the key sticking points, the finance minister said.

“The US has taken a view on climate change, on climate finance and all of those issues and therefore bringing that stuff into the debate at the G-20 created a difficult task for us,” he said.

Additionally, the Chinese delegation views references to “global imbalances” as a criticism of Beijing, which it considers a “major issue.”

Still, “if we can achieve” a communique, it will be a major achievement, Godongwana said.