APEC economies vow to narrow global development imbalance
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Asia-Pacific economies, including the United States and most of the East Asian powers, agreed to take concrete steps to correct the external deficit- surplus imbalance which is believed to have created conditions for the past global financial crisis, a joint statement said Thursday.
Finance ministers from 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) concluded their two-day meeting Thursday here with joint commitment to support the weak recovery and to correct the fundamental vices in order to obtain a sustainable growth.
The 21-member APEC accounts for more than half of the world's economic output. The finance ministers' meeting is a prelude to the annual APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting to be held on Nov. 14-15.
"APEC members with sustained, significant external deficits pledge to undertake policies to support private savings and undertake fiscal consolidation while maintaining open markets and strengthening export sectors," the Joint Ministerial Statement said.
"APEC members with sustained, significant external surpluses pledge to strengthen domestic sources of growth. According to circumstances in individual economies, this could include increasing investment, reducing financial markets distortions, boosting productivity in service sectors, improving social safety nets, and lifting constraints on demand growth," it added.
Over the past decade, the practices of Asian economies using their massive savings to fund the U.S. debts are blamed for creating the global imbalance that tilted over to the financial crisis starting last year.
While the Asian economies were urged to nurture domestic consumption and investment demands to absorb the excessive external surplus, the U.S. was called on to strengthen its fiscal positions and rein in free-will spending.
"We see growth resumed in the United States and around the world after the deepest recession in decades. It is extremely important for us to continue to focus on improving our fundamentals, as growth recovers to move our fiscal position back to the balance," U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told a news conference after the finance ministers' meeting.
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