Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 7 (G-7) industrialized nations April 12 agreed that the international financial institutions should conduct a preliminary needs assessment of Iraq and provide the country with technical assistance as soon as possible, says US Treasury Secretary John Snow.
Briefing reporters at the end of two days of meetings in Washington of ministers and bankers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, Snow said the group also agreed that international cooperation is needed to "find, freeze and marshal" the assets of Saddam Hussein's regime.
The group also agreed that foreign aid works best in countries with good governance and environments conducive to private-sector economic growth, Snow stressed. He said the group underscored the importance of trade liberalization, especially in agriculture and financial services, for global economic growth and reduction of poverty.
The group will develop an approach for helping countries not eligible for assistance from the World Bank's lending arm, the International Development Association (IDA), the communiqué added. The approach will be discussed at the G-7 meeting in May in France, it said.
In a separate April 12 statement of progress on an action plan adopted in April 2002, the G-7 urged the IMF to intensify efforts to make surveillance of its members' economies "more comprehensive, independent and accountable."
The statement said the G-7 supports the promotion of early collective action clauses for sovereign bond contracts. It added that the sovereign debt restructuring mechanism proposed by the IMF needs further discussions on topics such as aggregation, scope of debt and
inter-creditor equity.
Snow said he also met separately with finance ministers of several G-7 and non-G-7 countries, including those of Central American nations, Brazil, South Africa, France, Russia and Japan. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
