Pat Dollard

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Speaking following a meeting of finance ministers and central bankers, the U.S. treasury secretary said America’s recovery ‘will be stronger if the world is stronger’

HORSHAM, England — U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the global economy is in a “challenging period” and that the crisis is “still evolving.”

Speaking following a meeting of finance ministers and central bankers from the world’s wealthiest and largest developing countries, Geithner said Saturday that economic recovery in the United States depends on its companies’ access to “open and growing economies” globally.

Geithner said the U.S. recovery “will be stronger if the world is stronger.”

The comments came after British Treasury chief Alistair Darling sounded an upbeat note about the potential success of talks among international finance officials.

The group is divided over whether to use fiscal stimulus — or big spending packages and tax cuts — or better regulation to drag the world economy out of its slump and many fear that the gathering will do little to set a common agenda for a full summit of G-20 heads of state and government on April 2.

Opening the full session of finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 nations, which represent more than 80 percent of the world economy, Darling said that he was confident of making progress and that early discussions were “very useful.”

“We will start the first session which leads on from the very useful discussion we had last night when we discussed the situation that faces countries right across the world,” he told the officials as they prepared for a discussion on macro-financial response to the crisis, including ways to restore credit channels.

On the agenda Saturday after a series of bilateral meetings and a working dinner on Friday, is a session called “reshaping the global financial system,” which includes a discussion of the principles for financial regulation and supervision.
(AP)

FOX Business:

Geithner Tells FBN He’s ‘Pleased’ With G-20 Meeting

by Joanna Ossinger

Coming out of the Group of 20 meeting in Horsham, U.K. on Saturday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told FOX Business in an interview that he was “very pleased” with the meeting, but continued to offer few details on exactly what global efforts are going to be made to revive the world economy.

“We’re seeing a strong commitment on the need for strong, sustained action” to lead us to recovery, Geithner told FOX Business’s Ashley Webster. “The world is with us on this.”

Geithner said there’s a “framework of principles” the countries have put together to bring about the “very strong coordinated global response.”

“We’re moving very quickly” to flesh out the details of the plans, he added – though he has made similar statements since he became Treasury Secretary some weeks ago.

He noted that in addition to the economic stimulus, there’s a need to get credit markets working again. That has been a focus of domestic U.S. initiatives such as bank bailouts, and while there are some signs credit markets are unfreezing, the system is still struggling.

Back at the White House, President Barack Obama downplayed questions about whether the G-20 countries were united in how to approach the economic crisis. Recent reports have suggested that there might be dissent on what to do.

“In my mind, there is no conflict or contradiction” in how the G-20 countries think the problems should be approached, the President said, though he added that countries might approach some of the details differently.

He added that “It would be useful if we had an international body that is accounting for how the stimulus is taking place out there, just so that various foreign ministries can keep track” of what’s going on with the global economy.”

The President also reiterated that “financial regulation is front and center” in what he feels needs to be done to revive the economy and position it well for the long term.

In Geithner’s statement after the G-20 meeting, he mentioned some developments that took place amid the talks. He said they agreed on the need to mobilize “more resources for the international financial institutions to address the risks posed by the pull back of capital flows and the fall in external demand.”

Also, “the G-20 supports our proposal for a substantial increase to emergency IMF resources through a major enlargement of the New Arrangements to Borrow [NAB] and expansion of its membership,” Geithner said. “We have asked the World Bank and other Multilateral Development Banks to leverage existing resources by flexible use of their balance sheets to help meet financing needs.”

Geithner said the G-20 had committed to some broad principles, including stronger market oversight and a framework for disclosure in all markets including in derivatives.

“We have expanded membership of the Financial Stability Forum, and we should elevate its role in the international system so that the global economy has — alongside the original Bretton Woods institutions of the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO — a strong institution able to lead these critical efforts to a more robust framework of oversight and standards for the global financial system,” Geithner said.

The G-20 consists of finance ministers and central-bank governors from 19 major developed and developing countries plus the European Union.