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G20 ministers to discuss bank tax, debt and recovery

Business Materials 23 April 2010 10:41 (UTC +04:00)

Finance ministers and central bank heads of the world's 20 leading economies on Friday will discuss measures to keep the global economic recovery afloat and consider levying banks to avoid massive taxpayer bail-outs in a future financial crisis, DPA reported.

The Group of 20 (G20) bloc of wealthy and developing countries will also review efforts to bring their economies more in line with each other, a promise made at the last G20 summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

While the global recovery from last year's recession has been stronger than expected, the IMF this week said the gulf between industrial and developing countries had only widened to date.

Emerging powers like China and India are leading the world recovery, their economies even at risk of overheating as investors flood the region with extra capital. The United States, Europe and Japan, meanwhile, face a sluggish recovery in coming years after battling out of their worst recession in generations.

IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard this week said developing powers like China should allow their currencies to appreciate to level the playing field, though exchange rates were unlikely to be a key topic during Friday's G20 gathering.

Toward the top of the agenda is a proposed bank levy - part of wider proposals for overhauling financial regulation - that has divided the bloc.

A global tax on banks is favoured by the United States and some Western European countries as they seek to channel public anger against the banking sector. But it is opposed by emerging powers like India, which argue it could stifle the development of their own banking sectors.

IMF staff added fuel to the fire this week by proposing two separate bank taxes - one a flat tax on all financial firms and another on bank profits.

Ministers from wealthier countries will have to answer for massive budget deficits, which the IMF's Blanchard warned were nearing "a debt explosion." The effect of Greece's debt woes on the eurozone and global economy was also likely to be a major topic.

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