One of the points I'm going to make is that this is a time of crisis and it is perhaps not the right time to be looking at in effect constitutional issues, that we should be looking at practical, pragmatic approaches,' Mr Jim Flaherty said. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
SAO PAULO (Brazil) - BRAZIL'S president said on Saturday that big emerging nations must have a prominent role in negotiations to fix the planet's troubled financial system because the world's poor are blameless victims of global economic turmoil.
Finance ministers and central bank presidents from the world's 20 major economies were in Sao Paulo in a preliminary effort to 'designing a new world financial architecture,' said President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
G20 should focus on crisis mgmt
SAO PAULO - FINANCE officials from around the world will discuss on Saturday a bigger role for emerging economies in the way global finance is managed but there is no need for new institutions, Canada's finance minister said.
'One of the points I'm going to make is that this is a time of crisis and it is perhaps not the right time to be looking at in effect constitutional issues, that we should be looking at practical, pragmatic approaches,' Mr Jim Flaherty said.
Mr Silva said rich nations like the United States and European countries must acknowledge the increasing global role that developing economies like Brazil play on the world stage - and give them the power to develop new international finance rules.
The stakes are high, he said, because millions of poor across the planet are suffering from the worldwide credit crunch that started in developed countries.
'The lives of human beings are at stake,' Mr Silva said.
France is suggesting bringing emerging economies on board as members of the exclusive G-8 club of industrialised nations.
Brazil's finance minister proposed the group be expanded to as many as 15 countries, but didn't specify which emerging-market nations besides Brazil, Russia, India and China should be allowed to join.
European presidents on Friday suggested making the International Monetary Fund the world's financial watchdog, giving it more power to curb financial crises, with more money to aid countries in trouble.
Brazil and other emerging-market nations have long complained they do not have sufficient representation within bodies like the IMF and the World Bank. Mr Silva said the G-20 is well-poised to help forge new international finance regulations because it has broad representation from both rich and developing countries. -- AP
