By IANS,
Cannes : The Group of Twenty (G20) leaders have agreed to strengthen the resources of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday at the conclusion of a two-day summit that gathered the world’s major developed and emerging economies.
The leaders were expecting the IMF to play a key role in defending global stable growth, Sarkozy told a press conference in this French resort city of Cannes.
“We have made commitments to strengthen the IMF’s resources if necessary” and “have set up conditions” on this, Sarkozy said, emphasizing that “the IMF must play its role as a defence of stability of growth.”
In a final communique, G20 leaders also agreed to continue efforts “to further strengthen global financial safety nets and support the IMF in putting forward the new Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL)” to make sure financial safe net for countries in need.
“We are also committed to further progress towards a more integrated, even-handed and effective IMF surveillance and to better identify and address spill-over effects,” according to the communique released after Sarkozy’s press conference.
At the summit, the IMF has accepted a responsibility to monitor Italy’s policy implementation on a quarterly basis over the concern that the third biggest Eurozone economy would follow the suit of Greece to weigh down the one-currency bloc.
“Italy has taken the necessary measure to restore confidence and fiscal balance by 2016. Italy has a key role to play in the Eurozone,” Sarkozy said, adding the EU Commission will join the IMF in monitoring Rome.
The final communique also supported the IMF’s proposal of establishing “a single facility to fulfill the emergency assistance needs of its members” but didn’t give more detail.