Katayama’s October 15, 2026, Press Briefing
Overview
Finance Minister Katayama participated in the World Bank-IMF Development Committee and the G20 and G7, and became the committee’s new chair. Discussions covered critical minerals, global health, and debt issues, and reaffirmed commitments on foreign exchange. Japan and South Korea agreed to continue their currency swap at its current scale of 10 billion dollars. India agreed to establish a finance ministers’ dialogue, while Indonesia proposed resuming their previous consultations. In response to questions, Katayama denied prior consultations with China and said fiscal sustainability and investment in growth were necessary.
Key points
- Minister Katayama became the new chair of the World Bank-IMF Development Committee.
- Japan and South Korea agreed to continue the currency swap at its current scale of 10 billion dollars.
- She said fiscal sustainability goals are needed, along with creating fiscal space to fund investment in growth.
- She denied reports, saying there had been no prior consultations with China.
Overview
Minister Katayama participated in the World Bank-IMF Development Committee, the G20, and the G7, and held separate meetings with ministers from South Korea, India, Thailand, Sweden, and Indonesia.
The G20 did not produce a joint communiqué or chair’s statement.
Details
At the Development Committee, she expressed expectations of the World Bank on critical minerals, global health, universal health coverage, and debt issues, and announced the first POWERR Asia project supported through coordination between the World Bank Group and ADB.
At the G20 and other meetings, she reaffirmed commitments on foreign exchange and said financial markets should be monitored with a high sense of urgency. At the G7, participants agreed to a tabletop exercise on frontier AI and SI.
India and Japan agreed to work toward establishing a bilateral finance ministers’ dialogue, while Indonesia proposed resuming their previous finance ministers’ consultations. Thailand indicated that it intended to take the lead on improving EV tariffs.
The minister said the IMF had explained that AI was contributing to differences in growth rates across countries, while the global economy as a whole remained resilient. She said increased government spending and substantial private financing for AI and data centers could put upward pressure on interest rates.
On global imbalances, participants discussed continuing evidence-based debate and called for domestic structural reforms in China. The United Kingdom and the United States said discussions would continue at the G20 and G7 next year.