Chairman Kerry Statement on G-20 Summit Agreement

Washington, D.C. - Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) released the following statement in response to the communiqu? by G-20 leaders on their plan to deal with the global economic crisis: "The willingness of G-20 leaders to bridge their differences and demonstrate unity of purpose in tackling the global economic crisis will go a long way to restore confidence in the governments, markets and institutions that have been most affected. The sweeping reforms to tackle banking secrecy, overarching regulatory supervision, compensation schemes, as well as the need to reach a deal on Doha and avoid the rise of protectionism, are critical to stabilize the global economy and ensure mistakes made in the past are not repeated in the future. Strengthening the IMF and World Bank will help enable those institutions to tackle the crisis in countries experiencing the most serious downturn. The IMF and World Bank are the appropriate institutions to help stabilize emerging markets in these difficult times. I applaud the adoption of Secretary Geithner's proposed increase of $250 billion to the IMF's war chest."