Reassurances about debt-strapped Greece and an agreement that banks should pay for future rescue funds capped an international meeting in Canada’s Arctic as European policymakers sought to convince jittery markets that they have things under control.
Ministers and central bank governors said economies were recovering from recession, but stuck to their view that it was too early to withdraw government help.
In a statement issued on Saturday after two days of G7 talks, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said he believed Greece would meet tough targets to lower its budget gap.
PHOTO: AP
“We expect and we are confident that the Greek government will [make] all the decisions that will permit it to reach that goal,” Trichet said.
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said euro zone countries would make sure the Greek plan was implemented and Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the group of euro zone finance ministers, dismissed the idea Greece would need money from the IMF.
World stock markets slumped to three-month lows on Friday on fears that Greece’s crisis would spread and the euro fell to its lowest level against the US dollar in eight-and-a-half months.
Earlier, officials from the G7 — comprising Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US — said support was rising for a levy on banks that could pay for global governments’ rescue of the financial system, but such a levy would have to be designed so it did not derail a tentative economic recovery, they said.
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner played down differences between countries on banking reform.
Last month the administration of US President Barack Obama stunned the banking industry with tough reform proposals that took other countries by surprise too.
“We all share a deep commitment to try to move forward and reach agreement on a strong, comprehensive set of financial reforms on the timetable we all committed to last September,” he said. “That means agreement on ... a new set of capital requirements for large global institutions by the end of this year.”
Iqaluit, the town that hosted the meeting, was the most exotic location for a G7 meeting to date, offering food that included Arctic char and muskox minestrone. A shortage of commercial flights and the distances involved meant most ministers used government jets.
Geithner said that the G7 underscored its commitment to reinforcing recovery, while Canada’s Jim Flaherty said the global economy was improving but still needed government help.
“We do not have a firmly established recovery yet, but there are signs,” he said.
The US and other big economies are also saddled with debts, having spent heavily to stave off a depression.
Ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service this week said the US must do more to keep its AAA rating after the Obama administration said it expected a deficit equivalent to 10.6 percent of GDP this year, more than three times the level considered sustainable by economists.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS