HORSHAM, England — Finance officials from rich and developing countries pledged Saturday to do “whatever is necessary” to fix the global economy, including supervision of freewheeling hedge funds and restoring bank lending by dealing with the shaky securities burdening their finances.
But officials remained cool to a U.S. push for more coordinated government spending to stimulate economies.
They called instead on the International Monetary Fund to assess the individual government actions already taken and what more might be required, rather than laying out definite plans to ramp up spending.
Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20, which accounts for more than 80 percent of the world economy, agreed there was an “urgent need” for a big boost to the lending resources of the International Monetary Fund to help struggling governments in the developing world.
They left the specific amount and who would contribute open, to be taken up at the much-anticipated summit of the group’s national leaders in London on April 2.
The job of the meeting Saturday was to shape the agenda for that gathering, which will be closely watched for whether leaders can find common steps to take.
“We’re prepared to take whatever action is necessary to ensure growth is restored, and we’re committed to do that for however long it takes to do that,” said British Treasury chief Alistair Darling.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who had pushed for Europe to match Washington’s $787 billion package of spending and tax cuts, said he was pleased with progress made at the talks Friday and Saturday. But he noted that the economic and financial crisis was still playing out.
“This is a very challenging period, and this is still evolving,” he told reporters.
