Introduction to Financial Flows and Infrastrucure Financing

The topic of this year’s conference, ‘Financial Flows and Infrastructure Financing’, was chosen to support the G20 agenda during Australia’s presidency in 2014. More specifically, the G20 is seeking to boost global growth, including through focusing on ways to improve the climate for investment, particularly in infrastructure. Reflecting the broad range of issues covered by this topic, the conference was jointly hosted with the Productivity Commission and the Lowy Institute for International Policy. The Productivity Commission has had considerable experience with a wide range of infrastructure issues, most recently with its report on Public Infrastructure (PC 2014a, 2041b). The involvement of the Lowy Institute for International Policy was a natural extension of their role in supporting the G20 agenda throughout Australia’s presidency. All RBA annual conferences are designed to encourage debate among policymakers, academics and practitioners on important policy questions. To this end, and reflecting the relationship with the G20 agenda, the participants included academics from local and international universities, representatives from international financial institutions, members of the G20’s Investment and Infrastructure Working Group, Australian policymakers, and institutional investors.