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President Obama at the G20
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02 April 2009
Obama Calls G20 Summit a Turning Point for Recovery, April 2, 2009
By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer
The full text of the leaders’ statement is available on a G20 Summit Web site.
Washington — President Obama says the G20 Summit is a turning point in the pursuit of global economic recovery.
“The London Summit was historic. It was historic because of the size and scope of the challenges we face and because of the timeliness and magnitude of our response,” Obama said at an April 2 press conference following the daylong summit in London’s Docklands section along the Thames River.
The White House said the president will ask Congress for $448 million in emergency funding to help targeted developing countries respond to the current and anticipated effects of the crisis on extremely poor populations. The financial assistance will complement actions by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, multilateral development banks and other donors to stabilize economies and restore the international financial sector.
“The world’s leaders have responded today with an unprecedented set of comprehensive and coordinated actions,” the president said.
Earlier in the day, the G20 leaders announced their plans in a detailed Leaders’ Statement. Among the highlights, the leaders pledged $1.1 trillion to restore credit, economic growth and jobs in the world economy. (See “G20 Pledges $1.1 Trillion for Economic Recovery.”)
The enormous allocation includes $750 billion for an emergency resources account at the International Monetary Fund, which is used to help nations in financial crisis, and $250 billion for new Special Drawing Rights — which is an international reserve asset used by the IMF to supplement the existing reserves of member countries. The G20 leaders also agreed to provide at least $100 billion of additional lending to multilateral development banks and ensure $250 billion of support for trade finance.
Finally, the leaders agreed to provide additional resources from IMF gold sales for financing help for the poorest countries.
“The challenge is clear. The global economy is contracting,” Obama said.
Obama praised the world leaders, whose nations represent 90 percent of the world’s economic output, for rejecting trade protectionism, saying that history repeatedly has taught that closing borders to trade with others deepens the crisis.
And he said the world’s leaders agreed that a more stringent and effective regulatory process is needed to end the “bubble-and-bust economy that has stood in the way of sustained growth,” and that permitted abusive risk taking that endangers prosperity.
Obama also announced that the United States will double support for agricultural development to more than $1 billion to help people lift themselves out of poverty. “We will also support the United Nations and World Bank as they coordinate the rapid assistance necessary to prevent humanitarian catastrophe,” he said.
In praising other summit participants and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for his efforts in hosting the summit, Obama acknowledged that “it’s hard for 20 heads of state to bridge their differences.”
“We’ve all got our own national policies, our own assumptions, and our own politics. But our citizens are hurting,” Obama said. “They need us to come together.”
