G20 leaders play down hopes for April 2 summit
G20 leaders have today played down hopes of a substantial agreement when the G20 summit convenes in London on 2 April. This comes at a time when Gordon Brown is trying to place pressure on his fellow G20 members as he looks to pull "a number of rabbits out of a hat". A number of leaders have stepped forward to suggest there is no "open sesame" solution to the problems of the worldwide economic slowdown and progress could be painfully slow.
A pre-summit meeting this weekend saw the general rehash and re-announcement of older policies although there was a broad agreement on additional funding to help out emerging market economies which have suffered more than most over the last 12 months. Quite where this money will come from remains to be seen, but the UK government is borrowed up to the hilt and now embarking upon a policy of quantitative easing.
While the very public spats which we have seen the last few months were missing from this weekend's pre-budget meeting it is unlikely the summit in April will be controversy free. Gordon Brown especially appears to be embarking on a go it alone strategy with the hope of pulling in other governments at a later stage.
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