British finance minister Alistair Darling said on Monday it was vital to give the International Monetary Fund<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4276169.cms#>(IMF) greater resources and he expected agreement on this at next month's G20 summit.
"The need for the IMF to have additional resources soon is very, very urgent," Darling told parliament as he reported on a weekend meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bankers <http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4276169.cms#>in southern England. Darling said he believed that agreement was "within reach" on the long-running Doha trade talks, and added that a deal would send a strong signal about the need to avoid protectionism. Leaders of the world's largest and developing economies<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4276169.cms#>meet in London on April 2 at the G20 summit to discuss coordinated action to combat the financial crisis. Darling said he expected them to agree on total levels of support for the IMF and development banking<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4276169.cms#>bodies. One official attending the weekend talks told Reuters discussions centred on more than doubling the $250 billion currently at the IMF's disposal to help countries hit by a slump in credit and investment. "We agreed that we must minimise the impact of this crisis on developing and emerging economies, many of which -- India, Indonesia, Turkey, South Africa -- were represented at the G20," Darling told parliament. "We agreed that this would require a very substantial increase in resources for the IMF, and that the development banks have the capital they need. "Agreement on total levels of support will be reached next month." Turning to the stalled Doha trade talks, Darling said Britain would like to see an agreement. "That is something that we have raised with both the Americans and the Indian government," he said. "We believe a deal is within our reach but it's important that countries engage in that." Leading World Trade Organisation countries came close to a deal last July but talks collapsed because of a disagreement between the United States and India over a mechanism to protect poor countries from a price-depressing surge in farm imports. The weekend meeting of finance ministers managed to avoid the bickering over economic stimulus versus financial regulation that had dogged preparations. Challenged as to whether other countries would follow the British example and cut sales tax, Darling said: "It is absolutely necessary that everyone one of us does whatever is necessary to support our economies and get through this as quickly as we can." B.KARTHICK RESEARCH ANALYST WWW.KENCES1.BLOGSPOT.COM <http://www.kences1.blogspot.com/> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Kences1" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/kences1?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
