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View Full Version : Brown Seeks Cash From Chinese, Oil Exporters to Stem Contagion



Fage
10-28-2008, 12:40 PM
By Mark Deen

Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Gordon+Brown&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) called on China and oil exporting countries to provide cash to stop the financial crisis from spreading further, saying the International Monetary Fund may run short of reserves.

The IMF has dipped into its $250 billion in reserves to provide emergency loans to Iceland, Hungary and Ukraine after concern about the ability of the nations to service debt roiled financial markets worldwide.

Brown's appeal is the first to emerging market economies that have used trade surpluses to build up trillions of dollars of foreign exchange reserves in recent years. The call reflects both the shift in global wealth away from the Group of Seven industrialized nations and his desire to overhaul the global financial system established after World War II.

"The whole international community must have an interest in stopping this contagion,'' Brown told reporters in London today. "We need substantial additional resources. We need this for the crisis we face now. We need a multilateral solution. The big surplus countries are in a position to help the most.''

Brown will discuss the proposal with French President Nicolas Sarkozy (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Nicolas+Sarkozy&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) outside Paris tonight and with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Angela+Merkel&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) in London later this week. He also plans to speak with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Wen+Jiabao&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) and will travel to the Middle East to make a direct appeal to oil-rich countries.

G-20 Meeting

In those meetings, the British prime minister will lay the groundwork for a gathering of G-20 leaders in Washington on Nov. 15, when leaders of the world's biggest economies gather to discuss ways to shore up the global economy. The summit was organized after U.S. and European Union governments pledged more than $2 trillion to keep banks functioning.
"Countries that have got substantial reserves, the oil- rich countries and others, should be the biggest contributors to a new fund,'' Brown said.

"China also has very substantial reserves.''

China currently has $1.9 trillion of foreign exchange reserves, while Russia has about $515 billion and Saudi Arabia has $33.3 billion. Combined, the members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have $519 billion on hand, IMF figures show.

"We must act now, we must set up the fund as quickly as possible,'' Brown said today. "The scope and nature of the crisis we face is different than in the past.''

Source:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=a.XYd6.9s8Sg&refer=uk

Ordie
10-28-2008, 01:58 PM
Oh the irony.

It wasn't less than a year ago we were China bashing over human rights, the environment and its undemocratic nature. And now we are showing up with a tin cup asking for some spare change.

a_very_ex_STAB
10-28-2008, 05:50 PM
Oh the irony.

It wasn't less than a year ago we were China bashing over human rights, the environment and its undemocratic nature. And now we are showing up with a tin cup asking for some spare change.

Oh the double irony. Brown the self-declared 'Iron Chancellor' who has spent the last 11 years fcuking up the British economy is now trying to paint himself as being the man to sort out the mess :roll:

The best way to sort out Britain's economy would be to line up New Labour's entire membership against a wall and apply the Ceaucescu solution by brassing them up.

ting
10-28-2008, 07:09 PM
If the UK needs a loan, they can ask us. No need to hold out the begging bowl like that, I am sure we can help out. p-)