Top of the Agenda: G20 Officials Eye Gloomy Economic Scene
The
eurozone crisis and the U.S. fiscal cliff took center stage at a
two-day meeting of G20 officials beginning Sunday in Mexico City, where
finance ministers and central bank governors from the world's leading
economies gathered to discuss Greece's deadline, Spain's bailout, and
the stalemate over a U.S. fiscal plan. Delegates pressed the United
States to act decisively (Reuters)
to avert a rush of spending cuts and tax hikes, warning that unless
Congress reaches a deal after Tuesday's elections, about $600 billion in
government spending cuts and higher taxes will kick in on January 1 and
could push the U.S. economy back into recession. Spain's Economy
Minister Luis de Guindos looks to outline the country's banking and
labor reforms, but will not dwell (AFP)
on why the country isn't seeking a sovereign bailout. The meeting,
which comes shortly after the IMF and World Bank meeting in Tokyo,
lacked key players, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner,
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, and the finance ministers
of France and Brazil.
Analysis
"Several
key figures, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, European
Central Bank president Mario Draghi and the finance ministers of Brazil
and France, are no-shows in Mexico. Their absence raises serious
questions about the relevancy of the G20
,
which was anointed as the main coordinating body for economic policy in
2009. The G20 needs a break. The first move of Russia, which inherits
the presidency from Mexico in 2013, should be to press the reset
button," writes Kevin Carmichael of the Globe and Mail.
"The
ECB has only announced the OMT program. So far, nobody has made an
application. The Spanish prime minister is still playing hard to get and
I doubt he will make an application this year. The OMT may end up as a
phantom. As in Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale – I am writing this
column from Denmark – it may not be very long until some child in the
bond markets points out that Mario Draghi has no clothes
," writes Wolfgang Münchau for the Financial Times.
"Beyond
highlighting the risks to growth – which also include a weaker
expansion of emerging markets and shocks in some commodities markets –
the G20 won't determine any concrete action
,
all the more so with key officials absent. Participants in the
discussion said they are more likely to focus on technical and
regulatory issues," write Costas Paris and William Horobin for the Wall Street Journal.
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