By Xinhua,
Sao Paulo : Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 (G20), which is an informal arena to facilitate dialogue between major industrial and emerging-market countries, began their annual meeting here Saturday to seek ways to deal with the global financial crisis.
Participants at the two-day meeting are expected to discuss the current global financial situation, said Marcos Galvao, international affairs secretary of the Brazilian finance ministry.
Discussions on the cause of the crisis, the worst since the 1930s, and its impact on commodity prices, inflation and exchange rates were also on the agenda, he said.
Addressing the gathering, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for a “new world financial architecture” in the wake of the current financial crisis.
The Brazilian government had earlier said it would propose greater participation of developing countries in restructuring the global financial system.
Any progress made at the event will be presented to the first G20 leaders’ summit scheduled for Nov 15 in Washington D.C.
Founded in 1999 as an informal arena to facilitate dialogue between major industrial and emerging-market countries, the G20 accounts for 85 percent of the world’s economy and about two-thirds of the world’s population.