Pranab Mukherjee to press for coordinated approach at G-20 meet in Paris

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee will press for coordinated approach at G-20 ministerial meeting at Paris to deal with the global problems, which include rising food prices, disruptive capital flows and fragile economic recovery.

"...the recovery of the global economy remains fragile, uneven and is fraught with significant downside risks. The coordinated response in the aftermath of the global crisis, and the resultant recovery, even if it is not complete, has clearly demonstrated the merits of a coordinated approach", said a finance ministry release ahead of Mukherjee's visit to Paris.

Mukherjee will leave tomorrow for the two-day meeting of G-20 finance ministers beginning February 18 at Paris. The ministerial will be preceded by a meeting of the central bank governors.

The first meeting of the G-20 finance ministers under the presidentship of France is being held at a time when the rising commodity prices is threatening to push more and more people below poverty line.

According to a World Bank report released ahead of the G-20 meet, rising food prices have pushed 4.4 crore people below poverty line in the developing countries.

Besides rising food prices and disruptive capital flows, the G-20 ministers will focus on issues like policy framework for a strong, sustainable and balanced growth, reform of the International Monetary System (IMS) and indicative guidelines for quantifying global imbalances.

During his stay in Paris, Mukherjee will also meet his French counterpart Christine Legarde and deliberate on bilateral and multi lateral issues of mutual interest including revenue related matters.

His agenda in Paris also include a meeting with the representatives of the BRIC nations, which besides Mukherjee include finance ministers of China, Brazil and Russia.

The agenda of the BRIC meeting include assessment of the G-20 framework, reform of the global economic system, preparations for BRIC Summit (Beijing) and BRIC economic co-operation.

Mukherjee will also be a lead speaker along with Canadian finance minister Jim Flaherty at the conference which is expected to open with a presentation on the global economy by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The G-20, a grouping of the developed and developing nations, besides India, comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, the United States and European Union.

In view of the rising commodity prices, France is also schedule to hold a meeting of the G-20 agriculture ministers in May and summit at Cannes on November 2-3.