G-20 leaders set to seek tighter financial supervision, IMF reforms

TOKYO, Nov. 12 Kyodo - Leaders of the world's major industrialized and emerging economies are set to call for stricter financial supervision and reforms of the International Monetary Fund when they meet in Washington from Friday evening to explore ways to weather the ongoing financial crisis and try to prevent any recurrence.

The Group of 20 leaders will also study measures to shore up the world's real
economy, as global growth is expected to suffer a major slowdown with the
turmoil stemming from the U.S. subprime mortgage meltdown spreading worldwide.
At the two-day landmark event to be hosted by U.S. President George W. Bush,
the 20 leaders are widely expected to hammer out principles for strengthening
regulations in the financial sector, which would involve enhanced information
disclosure, accounting rules and practice by credit rating agencies.
The 20 economies will also likely discuss an overhaul of the existing
multilateral financial bodies such as the IMF and the World Bank, known as
Bretton Woods Institutions, as more of a medium-term goal, so that the function
of those entities can be strengthened and they can better represent the
realities of the world economy.
During a meeting in Sao Paulo last Sunday, G-20 finance ministers and central
bank governors insisted that emerging and developing economies ''should have a
greater voice and representations'' at the IMF and the World Bank.
The Washington-based lending bodies were established just after World War II
following the 1944 Bretton Woods conference.
They will also examine steps to support the faltering global economy through
policies such as fiscal stimulus packages, at a time when the IMF projects
contractions in the U.S., European and Japanese economies in 2009 -- the first
simultaneous shrinkage since the end of the war.
The World Bank has also cut its growth forecast for developing nations to 4.5
percent for 2009 from an earlier projection of 6.4 percent as the crisis
deepens.
The upcoming summit will be the first of a series of gatherings and the 20
economies are expected to review progress in their efforts to grapple with the
global financial crisis and the negative impact on the world's real economy.
The 20 leaders are expected to issue a joint statement after their meeting on
Saturday, which could involve a to-do list to overcome the turmoil.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso will attend the summit with Finance Minister
Shoichi Nakagawa.
Tokyo is set to announce its readiness to provide financial support through the
IMF to emerging economies hit hard by the ongoing crisis. Japan may provide up
to $100 billion to the IMF from the nation's nearly $1 trillion foreign
reserves, government sources said.
Aso will also report on regional cooperation in Asia to avert a financial
calamity, such as bilateral currency swap arrangements known as the Chiang Mai
Initiative.
The premier has dispatched his special envoys to South Korea and Indonesia to
coordinate regional views before the summit.
The premier will also introduce Japan's recently compiled additional fiscal
stimulus program worth 26.9 billion yen at the gathering, Japanese officials
said.
Aso has also indicated his willingness to host a second round of the summit in
Japan next year and will sound out other G-20 members about the plan, the
sources said.
Market participants are looking closely for a concrete outcome to the summit to
address the current crisis.
Yoshikiyo Shimamine, chief economist at the Dai-ichi Life Research Institute,
said market players will focus on a detailed scheme by the U.S. government to
acquire bad assets held by financial institutions, if it becomes clear during
the summit.
He said the role of major emerging economies will also draw attention since
they are expected to be a main growth engine and mitigate the deceleration of
the world economy.
Masaaki Kanno, chief economist at JPMorgan Securities Japan Co., said a 4
trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus package unveiled by Beijing just before
the summit indicates China's intention to ''debut in the arena of international
finance.''
Kanno expressed expectations that emerging economies will grab the spotlight at
the summit and at the same time their regime for capital movement and foreign
exchange flexibilities will be under greater scrutiny.
The G-20 groups Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,
Russia, the United States, the European Union, Argentina, Brazil, China, India,
Indonesia, South Korea, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey.
==Kyodo