Brown says London summit results will shorten recession

Source: Xinhua | 04-03-2009 09:26

LONDON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Thursday that the results of the Group of 20 (G20) London summit will shorten the current recession.

“There are no quick fixes but with our six pledges today we can shorten the recession and we can save jobs,” Brown said at a press conference after G20 leaders concluded their one-day summit.

"This is the day that the world came together to fight back against the global recession not with words but with a plan for global recovery," Brown told reporters.

"Today we have reached a new consensus, to deal with the problems we face, [and] do what is necessary to restore growth and jobs," Brown said after the four hour summit.

He laid out the agreements that had been made by the G20leaders and he made clear that the proposals set forward were an attempt to rewrite the rules of capitalism.

In a move that would have pleased French President Nicholas Sarkozy and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, he announced measures to deal with what he called the shadow banking system.

"We have agreed there will be an end to tax havens that do not transfer information on request," Brown said, and insisted that "The banking secrecy of the past must come to an end."

He said there had also been agreement to impose tough standards and sanctions for those who did not comply. This was all part of a plan to encourage corporate responsibility throughout the globe. In his much repeated phrase, he said that the global problems required global solutions, but said that the G20 leaders were committed to solving the crisis.