The Korea Herald

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G-20 finance ministers seek joint effort to handle financial crisis

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Published : Oct. 15, 2011 - 14:36

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PARIS, Oct. 15 (Yonhap) -- Finance ministers from the world's leading industrialized and emerging economies plan to outline ways to tackle the current global financial crisis that is vital for economic growth, government sources said Saturday.

Official sources said the communique to be released at the end of the two-day-long gathering in the French capital later in the day is expected to tackle outstanding challenges facing the world and plot a course for economic recovery.

At a working dinner held Friday, policymakers exchanged views on how best to handle the eurozone crisis, including concerns surrounding the Greek default.

A official present at the talks said that there was an understanding that while in the long run it is important to strive for fiscal balance, in the short term, there is a pressing need to ensure adequate liquidity flow. He stressed that measures must be taken to stimulate troubled economies.

"There is consensus that fiscal health must be achieved without triggering a economic crunch, with more well-off countries needing to do more to fuel consumption and engage in measures to stimulate their respective economies," the official, who declined to be identified, said.

Without elaborating on details, he added that the G-20 members responded positively to the move to increase the size of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) fund. The move raised hopes that the economic bloc will be able to better cope with its debt issues.

Such developments are a positive sign that the European Union summit set for Oct. 23 could make meaningful headway.

"Besides these developments, the G-20 finance ministers are expected to reach an understanding on the so-called Kahn action plan that should be reached at the summit meeting in Paris slated for Nov. 3-4," the source said.

The plan aims to stabilize the global financial system, stimulate domestic demand and help emerging and developing economies over the economic slump.

Other insiders said that members concurred on the feasibility of implementing voluntary rules to control liquidity volatility, and to permit emergency measures that could temporarily regulate flow of capital in and out of a country, which can discriminate against foreign investors.

Besides these measures, the G-20 ministers touched on the global stabilization mechanism (GSM) that can prevent failure in the worldwide financial system from causing problems with countries that are not experiencing any troubles.

Meanwhile, South Korea's Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan, who is attending the Paris meeting, held bilateral talks with his counterparts from other major economies, including Germany and Mexico.