“In Australia’s case, our economic stimulus peaked in the middle of this year and is being gradually withdrawn as we go through the rest of the year,” Swan said.
WTO Director General Pascal Lamy cautioned of a false dawn in the recovery.
“There’s certainly a recovery happening, certainly in this region, which has suffered less from the crisis than from other regions of the planet,” he told CNBC in an interview on the APEC sidelines. “But I would be prudent whether or not this would be sustainable six months or a year from now.”
He said rising unemployment was the main threat to free trade and could spark greater protectionist policies around the globe.
APEC’s trade and foreign ministers pledged to refrain from raising new barriers to trade and investment, and said a review of measures taken by member economies that began last July to ensure they were not protectionist would continue into next year.
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