The British chancellor of the exchequer said yesterday that international complacency risked plunging the world economy into a double-dip recession, in a stark message ahead of a G20 finance ministers’ meeting.
Chancellor Alistair Darling said governments must carry on spending to ensure the global economy returns to sustainable growth next year, after the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
“My view is that the biggest single risk to recovery is that people think the job is done,” Darling said in an interview with the Independent.
“There is a real risk that either governments or people generally think ‘We have done that, we are on the path to recovery,’” he told the newspaper.
Removing government stimulus packages is expected to be on the agenda when G20 finance ministers meet in London from today, ahead of the G20 leaders’ summit in Pittsburgh later this month.
With Japan, France and Germany officially out of recession, minds are turning to coordinating the withdrawal of packages and government bailouts for banks — although with caution.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned this week that while the G20 largest economies must show willingness to work together on the removal of fiscal and monetary stimulus, it was too early to embark on exit strategies.
Ahead of the G20 meet, France is also leading calls for a coordinated crackdown on bankers’ bonuses, blamed for excessive risk-taking in the financial sector, including for a mandatory cap.
Darling said he was wary of anything that amounted to a “global pay policy” but saw “no problem” with the French plans to claw back bonuses after three or four years if they were not justified by performance.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to