Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh christened Monday’s gathering of the Group of 20 finance ministers in Asheville, North Carolina, by singing the gospel of growth.
“The world is awash in debt,” Bessent told reporters before kicking off the two-day meeting, “and the only way for us to get out of this is to grow our way out of this.”
Bessent is scheduled to be interviewed by CNBC at 10:20 a.m. ET.
Warsh, in introductory remarks to the gathering of international finance leaders, central bank governors and other top officials, bid good riddance to the idea of “secular stagnation” — what he described as the once-prevailing academic consensus that “all the good stuff had already been invented.”
“The new period is one of secular growth,” Warsh said. “If I were to try to characterize this moment, it would be one of a global investment surge.”
The meetings nevertheless come at a precarious time for the world economy, as President Donald Trump‘s war in Iran, ballooning U.S. debt and persistent inflation woes have stoked global uncertainty.
The G20 finance event has attracted numerous high-profile CEOs, including Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs‘ David Solomon and Eli Lilly‘s Dave Ricks.
Solomon and Ricks are both scheduled to speak with CNBC on Monday morning.
CNBC is reporting on the G20 meeting from Asheville, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Englewood Cliffs, N.J.