Abe bent on shaping global policy agenda for G-7

At May summit, Japan aims to focus attention on fiscal stimulus and restore G-7's lustre vis-a-vis G-20, given main Asian rival power China will host its first G-20 summit in Sept

Published Sun, Mar 27, 2016 · 09:50 PM

G7

Tokyo

AN unusually confident Japan will host the Group of Seven (G-7) summit in May with the hope of shaping the global policy agenda for advanced nations in the coming year over a wide spectrum of issues. These range from the role of fiscal policy to dealings with China and Russia.

With China acting this year as chair country of the wider Group of Twenty (G-20) advanced and key emerging economies, Japan appears determined to restore to the G-7 (comprising the US, Canada, Britain, Germany, France and Italy as well as Japan itself) some of the smaller group's former lustre.

The G-7 was somewhat eclipsed by the G-20 following the global financial crisis of 2008 which devastated the economies of advanced nations and which saw emerging eco…