Likely to call for coordinated policy on exit from stimulus
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to take a stand against protectionism and seek a phased exit from stimulus at the two-day G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meet in Gyeongju, South Korea, starting tomorrow.
“India is not in favour of protectionism. It will take up the issue of protectionist economic activity recently seen in the US, and call for a coordinated policy on withdrawing economic stimulus at the G-20 meeting,” a finance ministry official said.
There will be a meeting of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries. This will discuss the special study India is anchoring to look at the economic practices of individual members and creating synergy among them.
G-20 framework for strong, sustainable and balanced growth, International Monetary Fund reforms and financial regulatory reforms are some of the areas that will be discussed during the meet.
The G-20 members would discuss the global economy, review whether fiscal consolidation was required and the right timing of exiting from stimulus so that the recovery was not slowed, the official said, and added India would urge other countries to ensure fiscal consolidation did not happen simultaneously in all.
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Mukherjee will be accompanied by Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao and Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla. The meet will be followed by a G-20 leaders’ summit to be held in Seoul on November 11 and 12. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend the summit.
India, Brazil to gain the most: US
The US has said countries like India and Brazil have the most to gain from G-20 and they should ensure the grouping emerges as the premier platform for multilateral economic cooperation.
“I think Brazil and India are among the countries that have the greatest to gain, and have been among the strongest supporters of the G-20,” a senior Treasury Department official told reporters yesterday.