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G20 Consider Shaming List for Risky Economies
Hugues Honore | April 15, 2011

European powerhouse Germany may be on the G20 list of unbalanced economies European powerhouse Germany may be on the G20 list of unbalanced economies
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China, the United States and other leading economies are expected to be listed by the G20 for dangerous economic imbalances on Friday, but whether they will be publicly "named and shamed" remains unsettled.

The Group of 20 leading economic powers were moving to raise the pressure on 5-10 major global players for unhealthy and unsustainable fiscal and trade imbalances -- deficits in the US case and massive surpluses in China's, but also, for Japan, its enormous sovereign debt.

But in Washington gatherings finance ministers and central bankers of the elite group were undecided whether to make public the names, with some worried it could impact their ability to stabilize their economies.

Early Friday the G20 advanced and emerging economies were near to agreeing the basis for a shortlist of economic malefactors.

"We are very, very close to an agreement," said French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, who chaired the meetings.

"We will see later tonight" about whether the list is publicized, she said.

Those listed would be bound to update their strategies for correcting the imbalances by the G20 summit in Cannes, France, in November.

The parameters for the list would determine how many appear.

The United States, for its chasmic fiscal deficit -- the largest of the leading countries -- and trade gap; and China, with its massive surplus and undervalued currency, were certain to be on the list.

Also expected were Japan and possibly European powerhouse Germany.

The general parameters laid out in a February G20 meeting were broad enough to catch a range of violators: fiscal and trade imbalances, public debt, private savings, foreign exchange reserves and exchange rate.

But the G20 also has to weigh the impact of recent upheavals on the global situation: the popular revolts that have shaken North Africa, and the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11.

France, which holds the rotating presidency of the group this year, also wants it to seek safeguards against speculation on food commodities and reforms to the international monetary system.

Paris also wants more coordinated financial regulation, including a shortlist of systemically crucial banks whose activities would be monitored more closely than others.

The G20 represents 85 percent of the global economy, and comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, the United States, Italy, Japan, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Turkey and the European Union.

AFP