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World banks must act against toxic assets: China
Beijing June 12, 2009 The US government and global financial authorities need to remove toxic assets from their banking systems to restore world economic stability, a top Chinese banking regulator said Friday. Actions taken by governments worldwide to stabilise the financial sector "have gradually eased the panic," Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, told a forum. "But from the flip side of the coin... I should say it's not enough and all these are not... working," given the massive losses incurred by toxic assets still lingering in banking systems around the world, he said. "Toxic assets must be immediately resolved worldwide," he said, adding "the foundation of stability still lies in the US." Separately, Liu said China's economy was expected to grow seven to eight percent this year despite the impact of the crisis. "China too is dealing with the sharp downturn in business prospects driven by the global macro-economic slowdown," he said. The growth rate of the country's export-dependent economy slowed to 6.1 percent in the first quarter of this year, the slowest in at least a decade, as foreign demand shrank. However, "I promise it will be coming back to seven or eight percent this year," Liu said. He further warned that recent developments in the economy were "full of mixed signals" and the government would remain "watchful." China's May industrial output and retail sales both grew at a faster pace than in previous months, official data showed Friday, as Beijing's 580-billion-dollar stimulus package introduced last year kicked in. However, exports plummeted for a seventh straight month in May, down 26.4 percent year on year, while a 32.9-percent rise in fixed asset investment triggered concerns that the stimulus spending was unsustainable and over-capacity was building up. earlier related report Bank worries, shaky recovery cloud G8 finance talks Conflicting signs about the prospects for a global economic recovery and worries about the health of Europe's banks clouded a meeting of finance ministers from the G8 top world powers on Friday. New data showed industrial output and retail sales increasing at a faster clip in China but in the 16-nation eurozone industrial output fell by 21.6 percent in April over 12 months -- the highest contraction on record. And while the International Monetary Fund upped its forecast for global growth in 2010 to 2.4 percent, the World Bank said the recession in 2009 would be worse than expected and the WTO said there were no signs of a recovery yet. "I do not share the optimism" of some governments, World Trade Organisation chief Pascal Lamy said at a debate in Paris. "There is nothing to say that we are not still deep in this crisis which has begun and will continue," he added. Speaking ahead of the two-day G8 talks in Lecce in southern Italy, British finance minister Alistair Darling warned Britain's recovery could be held back in part by other European countries failing to clean up their banks. The IMF has called for "stress tests" to gauge the capital requirements of European banks similar to ones implemented by Britain and the United States but Germany has said these could undermine fledgling economic confidence. "If there is a problem it doesn't get any better by walking around it and hoping it will go away," Darling told the Financial Times in an interview. "In relation to cleaning up the banks -- that's essential and every single country, if there's a problem, you need to sort it," he told the paper. "Because if you don't sort that problem you'll never sort out the economy." French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said she also favoured the tests and said the results should be published just like in the United States. "As far as their publication is concerned, I am personally favourable but I think a coordinated approach would make a lot of sense," she told French business daily Les Echos in an interview published on Friday. Another hot issue at the talks will be setting new rules on global finance to avert another crisis. Britain has opposed plans for stricter monitoring of financial markets put forward by the European Commission. US President Barack Obama is to outline US plans for financial regulation next week and the topic will be on the agenda at the G8 summit in July. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner meanwhile said he will urge fellow finance chiefs at this week's G8 meeting to stay the course on economic stimulus spending and financial reforms despite signs the global recession is easing. "I think it is fair to say the force of the global storm is receding a bit," Geithner told reporters this week ahead of the talks. "I think fundamentally those signs of improvement... are the result of policy actions we have put in place here in the US and around the world." "Of course we want to see those actions sustained," he added. Despite hopes for a recovery, financial markets have been getting increasingly jittery about how governments plan to scale back massive debts and spending once economic growth gets underway -- so-called "exit strategies". There could also be more fallout at the G8 meeting from scathing criticism issued by German Chancellor Angela Merkel this month against Britain and the United States for their massive cash injections to boost the economy. The Lecce talks will officially start with a dinner at 1700 GMT on Friday with ministers from all the Group of Eight (G8) countries -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States -- set to attend. The talks are to finish at 1300 GMT on Saturday with a joint declaration. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links The Economy
China output, sales up as stimulus takes effectBeijing (AFP) June 12, 2009 China's May industrial output and retail sales both grew at a faster pace than in previous months, the government said Friday, as massive stimulus measures introduced since last year kicked in. The figures come as the Asian giant's vital export sector has been hit by the global slump, which has slashed demand in key overseas markets, leading Beijing to seek ways of boosting domestic spending ... read more |
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