Major pain for world economy if G20 reforms not adopted: Bank of Canada

By Lidia Kelly

By Simon Johnson The April 2009 London summit of the G20 is widely regarded as having been a great success.  The world’s largest economies agreed on an immediate coordinated approach to the global financial crisis then raging and promised to work together on banking reforms that would support growth.  At the time, President Obama got high marks for his constructive engagement.

By Wayne Cole and Jane Wa

Apparently all it takes to kick the world out of a secular recession and back into growth mode, is for several dozen finance ministers and central bankers to sit down and sign on the dotted line, agreeing it has to be done. That is the take home message from the just concluded latest G-20 meeting in Syndey, where said leaders agreed that it is time to finally grow the world economy by 2% over the next 5 years.

Recent concerns about the resilience of the global economy — Europe’s wobbling recovery, in particular — is expected to top of the agenda when finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 industrialized nations meet this weekend in Cairns, Australia. Coming on the heels of a new report by the Organization for Economic Development and Co-operation downgrading its economic growth forecasts, the G20 will likely discuss how European officials can help boost measures to improve growth in the region, a senior Finance Canada official told reporters on Monday.

Brisbane (Australia) (AFP) - Australia made a last ditch call Sunday for the G20's powerful leaders to use all policy levers to rehabilitate global economies and generate prosperity, which could see their target of two percent growth bettered.