G20 vows to refrain from competitive forex targeting

G20 finance ministers on Saturday pledged to crack down on corporate tax avoidance and not to target specific exchange rate values that could spark a currency war, the final communique said.

"We will refrain from competitive devaluation. We will not target our exchange rates for competitive purposes," said the communique after the G20 meeting in Moscow.

The G20 finance ministers are hoping to convince markets at their meeting in Moscow they will not slide into so-called "economic warfare" with competitive devaluations of currencies to boost activity.

Earlier, Britain, France and Germany also launched a new drive to help national budgets by making big business pay full taxes and not minimise payments through schemes such as offshore companies.

The G20 ministers agreed to take measures to combat corporate tax avoidance in coordination with the Organisation for Cooperation and Economic Development (OECD) which is preparing an action plan on measures to be taken in a coordinated move by national governments.

"We are determined to develop measures to address base erosion and profit shifting, take the necessary collective action and look forward to the comprehensive action plan the OECD will present to us in July," the final statement said.

Profit shifting is the practice of shifting profits from the company's home country to pay less tax under another jurisdiction.