U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said the Group of 20 nations has been “very successful” in helping to end the global recession and is warning it’s too early to remove policies aimed at boosting growth. “You’re seeing the first signs of positive growth now in this country and countries around the world,” Geithner. “We’ve come a very long way but I think we have to be realistic, we’ve got a long way to go still.” Geithner spoke in Washington as he prepared to leave for a meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers Sept. 4-5 in London. The officials are laying the groundwork for a summit meeting later this month in Pittsburgh, where leaders will discuss measures to overhaul supervision of the financial system, reported Bloomberg. Geithner said talks will include the start of a discussion on bank capital standards as well as a framework for how the world’s largest industrial and developing economies can cooperate to remove policies to stimulate growth. The U.S. also wants to discuss how to build a new “international capital accord” to rein in the amount of leverage that financial firms take on, Geithner said. Such an arrangement would set standards for how much capital that financial firms would need to hold in reserve to cushion against potential losses. “We’re going to talk about a framework of design principles, and I think we’re going to start to talk about timetables for what we try to get the world to commit to do in that context,” he said. He added curtailing executive-compensation is “a critical part of our broader reform agenda.” He said the U.S. has proposed “pretty comprehensive reforms” to give shareholders more control over pay policies and also give managers better incentives to act in the best long-term interests of their banks.
Geithner: Too Soon for G-20 to End Stimulus Measures
Geithner spoke in Washington as he prepared to leave for a meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers Sept. 4-5 in London.
September 3, 2009