WORLD> Europe
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WORLD> Europe
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Britain urges steps to insure financial system
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-11-07 21:10 "It really is important ... that we as finance ministers are engaged in this, because if there isn't an agreement on finance ... then the Copenhagen agreement is going to be much much more difficult," he said. The G-20 represents around 90 percent of the world's wealth, 80 percent of world trade, and two-thirds of the world's population. The EU has said that there should be a euro100 billion annual package of public and private finance by 2020 and has urged the US to lay out its position. "We need further progress, the Americans have to be more specific and also more clear about their contribution," Swedish finance minister Anders Borg said on Friday. Sweden currently holds the EU chair. But the Obama administration has been preoccupied with prickly domestic issues such as healthcare. The climate issue has been the focus of protests around St. Andrews, a university town on the northeast coast. A "People's G-20" is planned for the beachfront on Saturday after a small group of protesters blocked the coastal road Friday night between the town and the nearby resort where the meeting was held by chaining themselves together. There are also divisions among officials over attempts to secure future global growth. Host country Britain, still mired in recession, is keen to continued international effort to support a still fledging recovery, while other G-20 nations, including the United States, Japan and Germany, want to debate ending measures to boost growth. The finance ministers and central bankers are trying to find a way to make good on a pledge by world leaders at their September summit in Pittsburgh to subject their economic policies to the scrutiny of a peer review. That process would determine whether each country's efforts were "collectively consistent" with sustainable global growth. The G-20 is comprised of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United States and the rotating EU presidency.
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