Global finance ministers kept searching for ways to tackle the unfolding financial crisis, turning their attention to its effects on rapidly developing countries and poor nations at risk of being swept up in the turmoil.
US President George W Bush and the world’s financial leaders staged repeated displays of unity on Saturday to combat an unfolding credit crisis, hoping to calm investors whose panic has spread despite bold government action.
The crisis dominated discussions at the meeting of the G7 and the annual sessions of the IMF and World Bank.
The discussion shifted to the World Bank yesterday and its policy-setting committee, led by Mexican Finance Minister Agustin Carstens and World Bank president Robert Zoellick, a former US diplomat and trade negotiator.
He said the financial events could become a tipping point for many developing countries.
Zoellick said 28 countries were already fiscally vulnerable because of the twin shocks of rising food and fuel prices. But they were unlikely to receive any increase in aid from developed countries, which are tightening their own budgets.
“The poorest cannot be asked to pay the biggest price,” Zoellick said. “For the poor, the costs of the crisis could be lifelong.”
Bush pledged that his administration was doing everything possible to halt the market disruption.
Bush began his day with a White House meeting with finance ministers from the world’s richest countries and then made an unexpected stop at an evening meeting three blocks away at IMF headquarters.
Accompanied by US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, he participated for about 25 minutes in a discussion with the G20, which includes rich nations as well as major developing countries such as China, Brazil and India.
Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega said Bush told the finance ministers he was doing all he could to involve other countries in efforts to resolve the crisis.
In a joint statement, the G20 finance officials pledged to work together “to overcome the financial turmoil, and to deepen cooperation to improve the regulation, supervision and the overall functioning of the world’s financial markets.”
Other speakers at a policy meeting of the IMF echoed Bush in emphasizing the need for countries to work together.
“The depth and systemic nature of the crisis call for exceptional vigilance, coordination and readiness to take bold action,” the IMF said in its joint statement.
Also See: IMF chief praises global coordination on crisis、Herding is just as much an instinct in finance 、Taiwan may see Q3 contraction: report
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
RSS