(Image: Anna Urlapova)
Edinburgh will host the G20’s annual finance meeting next summer, the UK Government has announced.
Finance ministers and central bank governors will meet at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on July 8 and 9 as part of a year-long series of events culminating in the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Manchester in November 2027.
This is the second time that the finance talks have been held in Scotland, with fiscal chiefs previously gathering in St Andrews in 2009 in the midst of the Great Recession.
“As the UK’s second financial centre, Edinburgh is a fitting host for the G20 finance meeting,” Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey said on Thursday.
Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey. (Image: Steve Welsh/PA)
“Alongside the Leaders’ Summit in Manchester, and other meetings around the nations and regions, the G20 is a real opportunity for the whole of the UK.”
Members of the G20, which comprises 85 per cent of global GDP and 75 per cent of international trade, include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union and the African Union.
Secretary of State for Scotland Douglas Alexander also praised the announcement, saying that the UK’s presidency was a “huge opportunity for the whole of the country”.
“Bringing the world's finance ministers to Edinburgh recognises our capital's reputation as a global financial centre,” he said.
“This is a significant moment for Edinburgh and the whole of Scotland - the event showcases Scottish innovation and ambition to a global audience."
This year’s G20 finance meeting was held in Asheville, North Carolina, where Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov’s attendance was criticised by European leaders.
It was the first time he attended the meeting in person since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“I find the signal sent by receiving the Russian finance minister here quite troubling," German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said.
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"I would have wanted greater clarity from the American side that he should not be received here as a normal guest."
In a move which has roiled European allies, the United States invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to the 2026 Leaders’ Summit, to be held in Miami.
“We’ve invited President Putin to the G20,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in late September.
“We think it’s an opportunity for him to engage not just with [Trump] but with other world leaders. We hope that’s an invitation he’ll accept.”