G20 leaders promise $1.1 trillion of additional finance
The G20 summit in London surprised many with confirmation that a $1.1 trillion rescue package will be made available in the short to medium term. Interestingly, G20 members have agreed to make additional finance available to the International Monetary Fund which will now have around $750 billion to "play with". There is also $250 billion of emergency aid available to emerging countries, an extra $250 million for trade finance as well as an array of smaller packages announced.
The headlines tomorrow will be dominated by the $1.1 trillion package and the apparent agreement between all members. While there have been suggestions of behind-the-scenes rows it would appear that all members have agreed to come together to refloat the worldwide economy. Interestingly, the members have also agreed to take whatever additional steps are required to ensure that this year and next year will see a significant improvement in the performance of the worldwide economy.
The much rumoured hijacking of Gordon Brown's plans for the G20 summit, by fellow EU members, did not materialise although there is no doubt that Barack Obama has played a major role in the agreement announced today. It would be interesting to see how quickly this additional finance is injected into the worldwide economy and how quickly we see an improvement.
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