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G20 To Hold Financial Crisis Meeting
The central bank chiefs and finance ministers of 19 nations, including the United States, Europe's biggest economies, China, India and Russia, are to hold a crisis meeting in Washington on Saturday, Brazilian officials have said.
The impromptu gathering of the so-called G20 group to examine the worldwide financial turmoil was called by the Brazilian government, which currently chairs the body, the Brazilian finance ministry and the central bank said.
News of the meeting followed telephone calls between US President George W Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva earlier Wednesday.
A White House spokeswoman said the conversation were to discuss "the importance for all countries to work together to coordinate our actions to address problems facing the global economy."
The G20 group comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the United States. The European Central Bank is also involved.
The Brazilian finance ministry said the meeting would be held in the Washington headquarters of the International Monetary Fund and was coordinated with US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
Paulson confirmed the meeting, telling a news conference: "In consultation with Brazil, the G-20 president, I am calling for a special meeting of the G20 that will include senior finance officials, central bankers, and regulators from key emerging economies to discuss how we might coordinate to lessen the effects of global market turmoil and the economic slowdown on all of our countries."
news.smh.com.au/world/g20-to-hold-financial-crisis-meeting-20081009-4wy1.html