Urgent bank reforms
Finance ministers from both rich and developing nations have called for an immediate reform of the banking systems in developed countries.
At a meeting held in April 2009 under the auspices of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington the group agreed that such measures were needed to hasten a global economic recovery and to avoid future crisis. The IMF confirmed that progress in agreed reforms has been slow.
African Stimulus package
A call was also made for richer countries to use part of stimulus resources to support poorer African countries who are currently the brunt of the effects of the global crisis. It was recognized that without such a measure gains made in previous years risk being eroded.
The World Bank declared its commitment to spend $55bn (£37.4bn) on infrastructure investment as part of efforts to help developing countries withstand the global crisis.
IMF to lead the way
The meeting tasked the IMF with the responsibility to evaluate actions being taken in respect of the proposed reforms.
This means that IMF will be compelled to speak out if it feels that efforts to fix the banks are still lagging.
China to play in the IMF
There was also a call by the US for urgent reforms within the IMF itself to allow China and other emerging economies a greater say in the management of the fund. Analysts predict that the measure could result in China putting much more money into the fund.
Global commitment to Africa
At the end of the meeting, World leaders signed $1 trillion (£681bn) deal to mitigate the impact of the crisis in Africa. This was followed by the G20 commitment to triple the resources available to the IMF to $750bn.
Beyond the commitments
Beyond the commitment and pledges is simply action. Many pledges were made in the past which were never adhered to. Apart from this another key concern is the issue of protectionism. The World Bank for instance has accused the US, the EU and other G20 members of carrying out protectionist measures, despite the G20 agreeing to cuts in trade barriers going against one of the pledges made at the summit.
Five months on, what first steps have been taken so far?
