G20 leaders open summit in London to tackle financial crisis

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-02 17:06

Top officials from the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are also joining the gathering.

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The leaders will be aiming to enhance coordination of a global fiscal stimulus, reach a consensus on increasing loans to the IMF, and reaffirm commitment to anti-protectionism to help restore global sustainable economic growth and stabilize the financial market.

But the outcome of the summit, however, rests with participants' ability to bridge their differences on economic stimulus plans and reforming the global financial system. While the White House has pushed for more fiscal measures to help the economy, major European countries, notably Germany and France, remain sceptical about this and they mainly focus on tightening financial regulation and reforming the world financial system to prevent such a crisis in future.

On the eve of the summit, French President Nicolas Sarkozy had threatened to walk out of the London summit if his demand for stronger financial regulation were not met.

Speaking in an interview with French radio Europe 1 on Wednesday, Sarkozy reiterated that he wouldn't want to "associate" himself with a G20 that would be concluded by "false compromises." He said neither France nor Germany is satisfied with the current draft of the G20 statement, which he said should go even further on tightening financial regulations. "Regulation is at the heart of the debate," Sarkozy said.

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