G20 must deliver message of unity, stresses Obama
Tuesday, 31 March 2009, 15:01 IST   |    1 Comments
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London: This week's summit of Group of 20 (G20) nations in London must "deliver a strong message of unity in the face of crisis", US President Barack Obama said in an interview published Monday. The US president, who was due to arrive in Britain late Tuesday, said each participating country would have to take steps to promote growth and trade with what he called a "robust approach to stimulus" as well as fighting off protectionism. Obama advocated coordinated action on regulatory reforms and on tackling the problems in the banking sector and financial markets. Concerted action was required to enhance the ability of international financial institutions to assist emerging markets and developing countries. He rejected the idea of an "either or approach" between financial stimulus and regulation, saying in the interview with Britain's Financial Times that both were needed. "We need stimulus and regulation. We need to deal with the problems right in front of us and we also need to make sure we're taking steps to prevent these types of breakdowns from happening again," Obama said. With respect to the stimulus there would be an accord in London that G20 countries "will do what is necessary to promote growth and trade", he predicted. However, he understood the "legitimate concerns" in some countries which had already initiated significant stimulus programmes and wanted first to see how they worked. Obama also told the newspaper he has long been one of its readers. "Now it's trendy and everybody carries around a Financial Times," he said.
Source: IANS
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