(24 Apr 2004)
APTN - Washington, DC April 23, 2004
1. Wide exterior of the IMF headquarters
2. Close up shot of IMF seal on building
3. US Treasury Secretary John Snow meeting with China''s Central Bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan
4. Snow meeting with Pakistan Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and other Pakistan delegates
5. Snow meeting with Brazil Finance Minister Antonio Palocci
6. Snow meeting with UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown
7. Snow meeting with Turkish State Minister Ali Babacan
8. Wide shot of G-24 news conference
9. Cutaway of media
10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Conrad Enill, G-24 chair, Finance Minister, Trinidad and Tobago:
"It is reassuring that the global economic recovery is gaining momentum, but the recovery can only be assured through a multilateral corporative strategy. We, as developing countries, have been making much progress in achieving macro economic stabilization and implementing politically difficult structural reforms. But it is incumbent on advance countries, as the largest economies in the world, to do their part by addressing their own underlying imbalances."
11. Wide shot of news conference
STORYLINE:
The world''s top finance officials gathered in Washington on Friday for the annual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
On Friday morning, finance officials from developing nations, known as the Group of 24, met to discuss prospects for the global economy and whether more must be done to help the poorest nations.
Later in the evening, delegates from the Group of Seven major industrial nations - the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Italy - began their discussions which will continue into the weekend.
US Treasury Secretary John Snow, the host of the meetings in Washington, held a series of bilateral meetings throughout the day with delegates from both the G-7 and the G-24 nations.
All of those talks were being held in advance of the spring meetings of the IMF and its sister institution, the World Bank, which are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
Following their group meeting, the G-24 ministers issued a blunt criticism of what they saw as the failure of the world''s wealthy countries to do enough to promote sustainable global growth.
They said while the global economy was gaining momentum, a true recovery could not occur unless developed nations do their part to address their "own underlying imbalances."
The ministers called for "more resolute and credible action than currently envisaged" to deal with the US budget and trade deficits.
They also said the European Central Bank, which handles monetary policy for nations using the euro currency, should ease interest rates to attack still sluggish European growth.
Snow, however, said those who believed US budget deficits were a threat to global prosperity were "misguided in their thinking."
He insisted the administration had a plan to cut the budget deficit in half in five years and that US President George W. Bush''s tax cuts had been a critical factor in jump-starting a sluggish global economy.
All the disagreements were likely to be papered over when the G7 nations issue a joint communique on Saturday to end their two days of discussions.
The G-7 countries have the leeway to delay making tough economic decisions given the global economy, battered by recession, terrorist attacks and war, which seems launched on a sustainable recovery, with the International Monetary Fund raising its forecast for global growth this year to 4.6 per cent.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
