G20 to seek solutions to eurozone debt crisis

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G20 finance ministers and central bankers meet here Friday to seek solutions to the eurozone debt crisis.

Discussions will focus on whether to pump more money into the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but consensus can hardly be reached during the two-day meetings.

The G20 members will discuss how to strengthen the support mechanism of the IMF against the eurozone debt crisis, which is considered a threat to the global economy, Mexican Deputy Finance Minister Gerardo Rodriguez told a news conference Thursday.

"We hope to be able to give signals of commitment to strengthening the support mechanism and on Sunday, when the communique is released, we hope it will be like that," said Rodriguez.

Also on Thursday, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said the organization has seen the need for building a global financial firewall to protect countries against the risk of contagion, and part of that firewall is an increase in IMF resources.

The IMF announced in January that it was looking for 500 billion U.S. dollars to help it prevent any fallout from the eurozone crisis.

Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno said South America would also try to look for solutions to maintain economic stability and growth with the G20 member countries.

As for the debt crisis, he said the G20 meeting offers a good opportunity to solve the problem as G20 members can work together to find a sustainable production and consumption model.

Eurozone finance ministers have approved a second bailout deal for Greece. The bailout plan, which is estimated to amount to 172 billion dollars, led to a temporary market relief, but debt risks still exist.

On Tuesday, international rating agency Fitch downgraded Greece's long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to "C" from "CCC."

Analysts said an agreement is difficult to reach during the two-day meetings as divergences among the G20 countries on the issue of pumping more money into the IMF cannot be resolved in the near future.

The European Union (EU) injected 192 billion dollars into the IMF in December and it hoped to seek more funding from the international community.

However, its goal met with opposition from some G20 members including the United States and Canada, which said Europe should boost its own rescue fund in the first place.

Lael Brainard, Under Secretary for International Affairs of the U.S. Treasury, said IMF resources cannot substitute for a strong and credible European firewall.

Meanwhile, a senior Canadian official also said that the EU should solve the current sovereign debt crisis first and build its own firewall before other countries start to pump money into the IMF.

Japan has said that it may pump up to 50 billion dollars into the IMF, but the country is unlikely to make the pledge official at the meetings as Tokyo believes that the G20 has not been ready to reach an agreement on the issue.

Analysts said that G20 leaders are unlikely to reach any concrete agreement on the issue of boosting IMF funds, and that discussions and debates on the issue could last till the next meeting of finance ministers and central bankers in April.

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