World leaders yesterday closed in on a deal to jumpstart the sputtering global economy at one of the most important summits of recent decades.
After sharp differences over how to restore confidence, representatives of US President Barack Obama and other G20 leaders agreed the IMF could get up to US$500 billion in extra funding and a tax haven black list could be drawn up.
The British summit hosts expressed confidence an agreement would be clinched from the divisions at the meeting, which is being widely watched by markets and has sparked anti-capitalism riots in London in which one man died.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in his opening speech to the summit that there was a “very high degree of consensus.”
The summit has focused on measures to regulate financial markets, a clampdown on excessive corporate salaries and tax havens and increasing funding for the IMF.
Delegations were discussing ways to find hundreds of billions of dollars for the IMF and other institutions, diplomats said.
There was broad agreement on drawing up a “shame and name” blacklist of tax havens to force changes in banking secrecy.
Tax havens that refuse to share information with other countries will face “sanctions,” Stephen Timms, financial secretary to the British treasury, told reporters.
“In due course there will be a list produced of countries that don’t sign up ... what’s being discussed today is the timing,” he said. “The era of banking secrecy is over.”
A draft summit communique also called for restrictions on bonuses for bankers to discourage short-term risks.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned in an article for Britain’s Guardian newspaper that more than economics was at stake in London.
He said that unless decisive action was taken, the crisis could lead to a “growing social unrest, weakened governments and angry publics who have lost all faith in their leaders and their own future.”
Inside the summit, rifts “persisted” on how to draw up a new rule book for international finance and stimulus measures and combat protectionism, Britain’s Business Secretary Peter Mandelson told reporters.
France and Germany have demanded tough action by G20 leaders on regulation of global finance.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who last week blamed “white people with blue eyes” for the global economic crisis, tried to dampen expectations for the summit’s final statement.
“We cannot leave with nothing,” he said, noting that traders around the world were looking to London for a sign. “We can only hope for the best possible agreement.”
Meanwhile, Russia yesterday expressed regret that the idea of a new supranational currency that could in the future replace the dollar as a reserve currency was not on the table at the G20 summit.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told the economic gathering in London that it was important to address ways to improve the global currency system in the coming months, said a Kremlin official familiar with the matter.
A list of new regional currencies also has to be expanded to boost the global currency market which currently remained unstable, Medvedev said.
However, he cautioned that Russia did not seek to weaken the established currencies like the dollar, the pound or the euro.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old