By William Schomberg
LONDON (Reuters) – Finance ministers and central bank heads from the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations discussed together on Friday how best to steer the world economy out of the coronavirus crisis, Britain’s finance ministry said.
Britain is this year’s host of the G7 meetings, and called on G7 countries to agree a joint approach to taxing internet giants by mid-2021, a deadline agreed by the wider Group of 20 nations.
“Ministers and central bank governors exchanged views on how best to shape and respond to the phases of the global recovery from COVID-19, including supporting workers and businesses in dealing with the pandemic while ensuring sustainability in the long term,” the British finance ministry said.
Italian Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri said the G7 had committed to continuing coordinated action to support the economy. “The withdrawal of policy support is premature,” he wrote on Twitter..
Britain said the officials also agreed that making progress on reaching “an international solution to the tax challenges of the digital economy” was a key priority.
Countries have been trying to revive attempts at a global approach to taxing giant digital firms, many of them American such as Amazon and Google .
The issue has become a test case for Washington’s return to engagement with the rest of the world under new President Joe Biden.
(Reporting by William Schomberg, editing by David Milliken)
