Winners and losers at the G20 summit

June 29, 2010 - 0:0

TORONTO(Reuters) - The Group of 20 ended a summit on Sunday saying its top priority was strengthening the shaky economic recovery and pledging to clean up debt-burdened public finances without stunting growth.

The group of major and emerging economies had different priorities going into the Toronto summit, and some were able to achieve more than others during the two-day meeting.
Following is a list of some of the winners and losers:
Canada - draw
Host country Canada, arguing that its banks survived the world financial crisis without government bailouts, was a vocal lobbyist against a global tax on banks to fund future rescue packages, and a big winner when the G20 simply mentioned the idea of a tax as one option countries could adopt. Canada also saw the G20 endorse its push for specific deficit and debt reduction targets.
But the summit played poorly at home, where images of protesters torching police cars often overshadowed the political and financial discussions in the meeting itself.
United States - lose
U.S. President Barack Obama arrived at the summit on what White House officials hoped would be a triumphant note after House and Senate negotiators reached a final compromise on a bill that would bring about the most sweeping overhaul of financial rules since the 1930s.
But he left having achieved little on the fiscal issues that dominated the summit.
China - win
Beijing prevailed in its demand that draft language in the G20 communiqué praising China for enhancing exchange rate flexibility be removed from the final version.
Germany - win
Germany insisted it faced no criticism for its budget-cutting plans, although it remains a G20 target as a trade-surplus country that needs to do more to boost domestic demand. In an interview with Reuters, Finance Minister Wolfgang Scaleable singled out public sector debt as a barrier to boosting domestic demand, and said the deficit cuts would help steer Germany to a path of sustained growth.
Russia - draw
Russia pushed for reform of international financial institutions but no major advances were expected on that at the meetings. On most issues it successfully defended its position, but officials said privately that the nature of the big issues -- government deficits and slow growth rates in developed economies -- meant that Russia's position was peripheral.
Britain - win
Prime Minister David Cameron can claim a win at his first G20 summit. He got some of what he wanted including implicit recognition in the G20 communiqué for his government's tough budget measures announced earlier this week.
Brazil - lose
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva skipped the Toronto meeting, opting to stay home to deal with the aftermath of severe flooding.
The decision reduced Brazil's visibility at the meeting, a setback for a rising power that hopes to win a greater role in global affairs.
Japan - draw
Japan, which was against a global tax on banks heading into the meeting, took heart in the G20 saying the idea of a tax was optional. Japan has argued that its national deposit insurance scheme is an alternative to a bank tax.
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