Global leaders to vow action to ease recession
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - World leaders vowed to work together to overhaul the financial system as they headed to Washington on Friday for a summit on wresting the global economy from recession and avoiding future meltdowns.
With host President George W. Bush in his final two months in office and President-elect Barack Obama not participating, hopes for a conclusive summit were low. Nevertheless, European leaders pressed for commitments to prop up sagging economies.
"We need to agree on the importance of coordination of monetary and fiscal policy," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said en route to the meeting that begins with a White House dinner for political leaders Friday. Finance ministers will hold a separate dinner at the U.S. Treasury.
Obama sent representatives, including former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, to meet leaders on the sidelines of the meeting but stayed away personally.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, at a news conference in Berlin before heading to the U.S. capital, said there was pressure to relieve the crisis and ensure no repeat.
"The government will do everything to ensure there are more rules to prevent such a situation recurring," she pledged.
Fresh U.S. and European data underlined the severity of the downturn policy-makers face.
The euro zone tumbled into recession in the third quarter and U.S. retail sales posted a record slump. Japan, the United States and Britain all are on the brink of recession, while China has slowed to destabilizing levels.
BANKERS OFFER HELP
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, speaking in Frankfurt, said central bankers around the world stood ready to do more to ease credit strains.
The Washington summit, which concludes Saturday, brings together leaders from 19 nations and the European Union. It is officially a Group of 20 meeting, seating chiefs from key emerging markets like China, Brazil, India and South Africa with old-line industrial powers from the Group of Seven in what is likely the power constellation of the future.
But within the group many divisions remain.
Bush on Thursday pitched for modest reforms to preserve free markets, rather than stiffer financial regulation that some European nations favor to curb the excesses of capitalism.
In his weekly radio address, released on Friday, Bush said that "by working together, I'm confident that with time we can overcome this crisis." But he noted it will not happen quickly.
Financial oversight bodies proposed no major revamp of the world regulatory order. Continued...
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