Subsidies distorting global trade, says Stiglitz

Economics Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz yesterday said the "huge" trade-related subsidies in developed countries distorts global trade and jeopardizes the interest of developing countries.

Stiglitz is of the view that the financial crisis may lead to a reshaping of the monetary landscape. China can play a "vital" role in the global economic recovery, he said.

"Subsidies are distorting trade," he said during a speech at the Hanqing Advanced Institute of Economics and Finance of the Renmin University of China. "In the current context of the economic recovery, the subsidies (in the developed countries) are larger than what anybody has ever thought of before."