Delhi – Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, gave remarked after G20 after G20 Foreign Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in India: I would like to start by talking about the inflation numbers that came out today. They show that inflation in Canada is down to 2.8 per cent. That is back to the Bank of Canada’s target range and it is the lowest inflation has been in more than two years, down from a high of 8.1 per cent in June of last year.
Inflation in Canada is today lower than in every single other G7 country. It’s lower than in the U.S. at 3 per cent, lower than France at 4.5 per cent, lower than Germany at 6.4 per cent, lower than Italy at 6.4 per cent, lower than the United Kingdom at 8.7 per cent. It is even lower than Japan at 3.2 per cent.
This week, I attended meetings of the G7 and G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Gandhinagar, India, where I discussed with our allies and partners:
- Our efforts to continue bringing down global inflation and to ensuring steady economic growth;
- The importance of de-risking and friendshoring our economies in order to secure our essential supply chains and create good careers for people in Canada and around the world;
- Our ongoing work to build our clean economies, and the need to ensure that our investments are complementary, rather than in conflict;
- Ensuring a fair international tax system; and,
- Our steadfast resolve to continue supporting the brave people of Ukraine, and our determination to continue to hold Putin and his criminal regime accountable for their illegal and barbaric war.
I would also like to note that Sergii Marchenko, Ukraine’s Minister of Finance, joined our meeting of G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors virtually, for what was a very important conversation. Indeed, it was the first item on the agenda.
I made clear in my comments at the G7 and the G20 that the best economic policy for the world would be for Russia to immediately end this illegal war and withdraw from Ukraine’s sovereign territory. I also made it clear that Russia has no place at the G20 table.
I also had bilateral meetings with:
- Janet Yellen, the US Secretary of the Treasury;
- Shun’ichi Suzuki, Japan’s Minister of Finance;
- Paolo Gentiloni, the EU’s Commissioner for Economy;
- Jim Chalmers, the Treasurer of Australia;
- Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s Minister of Finance and our host;
- Mehmet Simsek, Türkiye’s Minister of Treasury and Finance;
- Lawrence Wong, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Singapore;
- Ajay Banga, the President of the World Bank;
- Mathias Cormann, the Secretary-General of the OECD;
- Odile Renaud-Basso, President of the EBRD;
- T. Raja Kumar, President of FATF; and,
- Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF.
This is an important moment for the Canadian economy—and for those of our allies and partners.
Thank you very much, and I’m happy to take your questions.