British PM urges G20 to maintain fiscal stimulus
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will warn Saturday against
withdrawing the massive stimulus measures launched to tackle the global
credit crisis, saying it would be a "serious mistake".
Brown will urge G20 finance ministers meeting in London not to be too
hasty to end the emergency measures that saw huge amounts of money
pumped into economies after the credit crunch, as they seek a way out of
the crisis."To decide now that it is time to start withdrawing and
reversing the exceptional measures we have taken would in my judgement
be a serious mistake," he will say, according to pre-released extracts
of his speech.
"On the contrary, with more than half of the five-trillion-dollar
fiscal expansion committed to, yet to be spent, I believe the prudent
course is for G20 countries to deliver fiscal plans and stimulus
packages they have put in place and make sure they are implemented in
full both this year and next." He adds: "Given the risks we face, this
is not the time for economic complacency or over-confidence. The stakes
are simply too high to get these judgements wrong.
Brown's cautious tone echoed that of Swedish finance minister Anders
Borg, who said at the meeting Friday that the world was still "standing
in the ashes" of economic catastrophe."When you've just come out of the
ashes, it's not time to call off the fire department," he added.The
prime minister will also renew his call for new rules on pay for
bankers, emphasising unity between Britain, France and Germany on the
issue - despite signs of a split on the extent to which bonuses should
be curbed.
"As (French) President (Nicolas) Sarkozy, (German) Chancellor
(Angela) Merkel and I have said this week, all G20 countries should
develop together and implement consistent binding rules on bankers' pay
- with sanctions at national level for banks that do not play by them,"
he will say."We should agree on the sanctions we will take against
jurisdictions which fail to meet global standards and commit to
implement these actions from March next year... We must act on our
pledge to end the era of banking secrecy."
-AFP
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