Gordon Brown calls for 'global grand bargain'

Thursday, 19 February 2009, 15:19 IST
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London: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Wednesday hoped world leaders gathering at the April 2 G-20 summit in London will strike a global "grand bargain" to rescue the international economy. "From the discussions I have had - and am about to have - I think we are fashioning for the future a global deal, a grand bargain, where each continent accepts its responsibilities and its obligations to act to deal with what is a global problem that can only be solved with a global solution," Brown said at his weekly press conference. Earlier Wednesday he met International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn and World Bank president Robert Zoellick. Brown said: "America has just announced the biggest fiscal and monetary stimulus in the history of its country." "Every part of the world must be part of the stimulus to the economy, giving support into the economy with investment, getting interest rates down as much as possible, and I believe one of the features of our discussions at the G20 summit on April 2 is how all countries can come together to do that," Brown said. "Some may have to do more on interest rates; some may have to do more fiscal stimulus. The whole point of the G20 is that the world must take action to deal with a global problem." Co-operation would be required on a "regulatory transformation" of the banking system, including an end to tax havens, he said.
Source: IANS