G20 commits to boost global economy

The Group of 20 is committed to a global strategy for growth and jobs and to addressing challenges a global economy presents, the ministers said Friday. The leaders of developed and developing countries said they agreed on an action plan for growth and jobs to address short-term vulnerabilities and build middle-term foundations for growth, a communique issued from Cannes France, said. The G20 ended its two-day session Friday. The ministers also praised actions Europe has taken concerning its debt crisis. "We welcome the decisions by European leaders … to restore debt sustainability in Greece, strengthen European banks, build firewalls to avoid contagion, and lay the foundations for robust economic governance reform in the Euro area and call for their swift implementation," the document said Recognizing that circumstances differ, the ministers said countries with strong public finances were committed to allowing automatic stabilizers work and "take discretionary measures to support domestic demand should economic conditions materially worsen" while countries with large account surpluses were committed to "reforms to increase domestic demand, coupled with greater exchange rate flexibility." All G20 members "commit to further structural reforms to raise output in our countries," the document said. The ministers said they were "determined" to strengthen the social aspects of globalization as well. "We firmly believe that employment and social inclusion must be at the heart of our actions and policies to restore growth and confidence," the communique said. "We therefore decide to set up a G20 task force which will work as a priority on youth employment." The ministers also noted that progress was made in reforming the international monetary system to make it more representative and stable. "We have agreed on actions and principles that will help reap the benefits from financial integration and increase the resilience against volatile capital flows," the document said. "This includes coherent conclusions to guide us in the management of capital flows, common principles for cooperation between the [International Monetary Fund] and Regional Financial Arrangements, and an action plan for local currency bond markets." The G20 ministers also committed to move faster toward more market-determined exchange rate systems and enhance exchange rate flexibility.