No deal reached in Seoul G20 meeting about the ailing global economy

No deal reached in Seoul G20 meeting about the ailing global economy

Leaders of the G20 economic group have failed to reach a consensus on Thursday regarding the best steps to take in fixing the ailing global economy as U.S. President Barack Obama cautioned that his country cannot afford to spend borrowed funds for much longer.

German, Japanese and Chinese leaders are set to meet the American leader in separate talks about trade and security, among other topics, before the formal start of the meeting of the richest and biggest economies of the world later today.

G20 nations have not seen eye to eye in most recent global economic issues. The U.S. government wants China to let the yuan float faster. The additional pressure has irritated Chinese officials. Other member economies are criticizing America’s move to infuse another $600 billion into their weak economy as this could bring down the greenback’s value and undermine competitiveness.

“Reducing imbalances between developed countries and developing countries is an urgent matter we have to resolve for a balanced economy,” Lee Myung-bak, the President of South Korea, said in a conference held before the official meeting. “We must coordinate together because if each country asserts its own interest, it may help them for the time being, but the world economy will eventually retreat.”

The prolonged global economic slump which started two years ago has prompted urgency on the part of the world’s richest nations to solve the problem before it becomes worse for everyone.

Obama called for making exchange rates based on market forces instead of “undervaluing currencies for competitive purposes,” alluding to China’s move to restrict the yuan’s appreciation.

Posted by James Fried on Thursday November 11 2010, 6:02 AM EST. Ref: AP. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Finance. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0