First, however, let us take stock of the current circumstances of the global economy. Italy took over from Saudi Arabia as the G20 presiding jurisdiction while the world was still in the middle of the Covid crisis.
In most developed countries, the dramatic lockdown of the first (‘spring’) wave had given way to more targeted measures for the ‘autumn’ wave, with a much lower cost in terms of lost output. However, global activity was still a long way from prepandemic levels. Furthermore, little progress had been made in many low-income and developing countries.