Summary
3 April 2009
The summit of leaders from the G20 major economies has agreed a very large increase in the resources of the IMF to help countries hit by the financial crisis. It set out plans for more extensive financial regulation for the future.
Reporter:
Andrew Walker
The G20's leaders in relaxed mode shortly before their formal group portrait
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Report
The G20 have come up with a package of plans that add up to well over a trillion dollars to tackle the recession.
One key component is an agreement to treble to seven hundred and fifty billion dollars the resources available to the International Monetary Fund for lending to countries in trouble. They also want a tenfold increase in what are called special drawing rights which is rather like an IMF currency and which strengthen the foreign exchange reserves of its member countries.
The G20 also plans closer regulation of financial firms with curbs on executive pay and new oversight of large hedge funds.
The British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, described the summit as marking a new consensus on tackling global problems.
Andrew Walker, 大象传媒 News, London
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Vocabulary
- a package of plans
- a number of ideas for future actions that are connected with each other (here, they are all aimed at resolving global problems)
- one key component
- here, one of the most important achievements that is part of the G20's package of plans
- to treble
- to make three times bigger
- countries in trouble
- countries that are most affected by the economic downturn
- a tenfold increase
- when something becomes ten times bigger
- special drawing rights
- here, the right to borrow additional amounts of money from the IMF reserves in order to deal with situations where a country's economy or trade suddenly worsens
- plans closer regulation of
- intends to continuously monitor and, if necessary, control
- curbs on executive pay
- limits on how much senior management can get as their salary
- hedge funds
- risk-taking investment companies
- consensus
- agreement between all of the participants
