G20 Pledges to Fight Financial Crisis by All Means

The G-20 countries, including G-7 members and major economies such as Korea, China, India and Brazil, agreed yesterday to mobilize all means possible to resolve the global financial crisis.

“The members are committed to using all economic and financial tools to assure the stability and well functioning of financial markets,” the group said after an emergency meeting of G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Washington.

Attending the session without notice, U.S. President George W. Bush stressed the severity of the credit crisis and his country’s efforts to resolve the turmoil in collaboration with other nations.

On Friday, G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors also pledged action. “The G-7 agrees today that the current situation calls for urgent and exceptional action,” the group said in a joint statement. “We commit to continue working together to stabilize financial markets and restore the flow of credit to support global economic growth.”

In his keynote speech at the G-20 ministerial meeting, Korean Strategy and Finance Minister Kang Man-soo said, “Emerging economies are also severely hit by the financial crisis, which originated from advanced economies.”

He also underlined the importance of including developing countries on the list of countries for currency swaps, saying, “Advanced economies could suffer from a ‘reverse spillover’ when anxiety in emerging countries’ financial markets strike against them.”

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