The meetings, which began on Thursday, are being held in conjunction with the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in the Thai capital, running from October 12 to October 18. They come amid an uncertain global outlook shaped by the US-Israel war on Iran.
The G20 is an economic forum comprising 19 large economies, including the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, as well as the European Union and the African Union. The grouping has an annually rotating presidency, currently held by the US. Together, G20 countries account for about 85 percent of global GDP and three-quarters of global trade.
Most finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 will be in Bangkok, along with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank Group President Ajay Banga. However, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will be a notable absence, as the top economic official of the world's biggest economy and G20 chair. US officials have cited "domestic engagements" for Bessent's decision to skip the events, at which Washington will be represented by Deputy Secretary Francis Brooke and Undersecretary for International Affairs Erin Browne.
The G20 meeting, one of several gatherings of the group's finance ministers each year, will help shape the agenda for the headline leaders' summit in Miami, Florida, scheduled for December 14-15.
The IMF, based in Washington, DC, is an international financial institution that promotes international cooperation on monetary policy, trade and economic growth. The World Bank, also based in Washington, DC, primarily serves as a provider of loans and grants to developing countries. Both institutions were created at the 1944 Bretton Woods conference.