Yoon relieved; Geithner piqued; Osborne (U.K.) learning and Flaherty (Canada) triumphant

At the end of the G-20 meeting in Busan, Saturday, the delegations made parting remarks during a news conference held separately by each country. The following are remarks by key participants. ― ED.

By Cho Jin-seo

Staff reporter

South Korea

Korea's Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun, who chaired the Busan G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors, said that the most significant outcome from the Busan meeting for him was the meeting itself ― that it was the first G-20 meeting to be hosted by an emerging market economy, and was held successfully.

"Some people were concerned, but we managed to host the meeting close to perfection," he said, though his face looked tired after moderating two days of discussions.

Korea is urging G-20 to pay more attention on issues raised by emerging economies, such as the establishment of global financial safety, or reforming of the International Monetary Fund.

"Opinions are varying on the global safety net issue among developed and developing nations. Fortunately, Korea is leading the discussion and we see that it is approaching to an agreement." He wished the G-20 can produce a solution by November's Seoul summit.

United States

Timothy Geithner, U.S. secretary of treasury, praised the G-20 members for leading the world forward.

"Because the G-20 countries have worked together, the global economy is expanding again," he said.

He stressed that the group should keep moving forward in adopting new bank regulations, such as stronger capital reserve requirements and limits on financial leverage.

"We will expedite development of new rules while setting a transition period," he said. "Reducing uncertainty about the ultimate shape of these new rules will help minimize financial headwinds for recovery."

Geithner concluded this press conference by mentioning softly on China and its exchange rate policy.

"A necessary part of reform is to resume what they call as reform of exchange rate mechanism," he said, refusing to elaborate further.

United Kingdom

George Osborne, a newcomer to the ministers' group, called the meeting and its official statement a "significant success."

"There was a significant change of tone in the language of the statement... The language is very helpful to the British government," he said. He explained that the global initiative on fiscal sustainability will strengthen the legitimacy of the budget cuts proposed by his government.

As for the bank levy, Osborne said that Britain will adopt a certain level of it regardless of what other countries do. "Different countries need different approach," he said, adding the adoption of bank levy was a campaign mandate of his Conservative Party.

Canada

There was an air of triumph when the Canadian delegate rose to the stage of the press room. It was their diplomatic success that the G-20 agreed not to force the bank levy system on all countries. Canada was at the forefront of the opposition group to bank levy.

"It was apparent again from today's meetings that most G20 members do not support the concept of a universal levy," said Finance minister Jim Flaherty.

They received only one question from hundreds of reporters in the room, but looked nonetheless happy.