Major countries' positions for G20 summit in Toronto
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Leaders of the 20 developed and developing countries will gather in Toronto, Canada, on June 26-27 for their fourth summit since the global financial crisis broke out in 2008.
The summit, with the theme "Recovery and New Beginnings," will cover a wide range of topics focusing on global economic recovery in the aftermath of the financial crisis, including the restoration of financial stability, global financial regulations, and reform of international financial institutions.
However, countries differ on what priorities the summit should tackle, especially on the policies that should be taken next as the world economy continues its fragile recovery.
Following is an overview of the major countries' positions for the Toronto summit:
Canada: Prevent worsening of the debt crisis
As the host nation, Canada hopes the G20 countries can reach an agreement on reducing deficits by at least 50 percent in the next five years in order to prevent a worsening of the debt crisis. Canada also calls for a clear signal for tightening stimulus spending at the proper time to prevent inflation.
Canada's other proposals at the summit would include: establishing an effective regulating mechanism for international financing; taxpayers' money should not be used to bail out financial institutions; strengthening the role of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other multilateral banks; and continue the voting quota reform in the IMF.
Canada was also expected to advance its position of no taxes on banks, resisting protectionism and increasing development aid to Africa.
United States: Consolidate global economic recovery
The U.S. government hopes the Toronto summit will reach agreement on the following issues: consolidating the global recovery; overhauling financial policies; strengthening financial regulation and supervision; and establishing a global framework for financial supervision.
The U.S. wants also to discuss the reform of international financial institutions at the summit, American officials say.
The U.S. is pleased that two issues with respect to the Toronto Summit that it was quite focused on have now seen action. One is that China has announced a new round of exchange rate reform, which is constructive to the upcoming G20 summit. The other is that Europe is going to disclose the result of stress tests of the financial sector, which will strengthen market confidence, a senior Treasury Department official said recently.
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