Dialogue with the G20 on “Banking for sustainable and inclusive infrastructure”

Intesa Sanpaolo and Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) – as Co-Chair of Think20 (T20) Italy – promoted the webinar “Banking for sustainable and inclusive infrastructure” to foster a dialogue on how the G20 could mobilise the banking sector to support sustainable and inclusive infrastructure.

In order to promote economic recovery, governments begin to promote Recovery Plans with long-term development objectives rather than focusing on temporary measures to support households and businesses affected by the COVID-19 emergency in the short term.

Renovation and maintenance of existing infrastructure, investment in sustainable and inclusive projects require the mobilisation of significant financial resources, both public and private that seem to be more important than ever, given the pressure on public finances due to the expansionary manoeuvres promoted by governments.

During the last G20, the centrality of infrastructures has been an important issue that has assumed a crucial role in the agenda of the Italian Presidency in light of the current crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is crucial to be able to improve the enabling environment in which private financial institutions operate in order to close the existing infrastructure gap because the lack of standardisation of regulatory regimes and indicators identifying sustainable infrastructure investments is a major obstacle for private financial institutions. The G20 can advance the international agenda by facilitating more effective multilateral coordination.

“Banks and governments could launch specialized impact funds to mobilise private savings towards investment,” commented Carlo Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo and Chair of the B20 Finance & Infrastructure Task Force, during the “B20-G20 Dialogue on Finance and Infrastructure for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth” event in July, organised by the B20 Finance & Infrastructure Task Force. 

“The G20” – Carlo Messina continues – “should promote the development of specific growth funds to support SMEs that have exhausted their debt capacity during the pandemic crisis. An overhaul of the financial sector regulatory framework is needed to offer incentive to long-term funding for specific asset classes to support economic resilience during and after recovery”.

In this regard, within the G20 Finance Track, a specific Infrastructure Working Group meets to promote global cooperation in order to improve the preparation, financing and implementation of infrastructure investments that ensure the provision of inclusive and sustainable basic services.