Posted on 02/05/2005 6:35:22 AM PST by Cornpone
LONDON (Reuters) - The Group of Seven appeared to have achieved a compromise on aid to the Third World on Saturday, proposing "up to" 100 percent multilateral debt relief to poor nations, G7 sources told Reuters.
British finance minister Gordon Brown had sought a complete debt write off for the world's poorest nations, but faced resistance from the United States.
Washington had objected to his proposal to use IMF gold reserves to fund the debt write off and also to create a new financing mechanism that would double aid.
"The G7 has raised the prospect of relief of up to 100 percent of multilateral debt owed to development banks and the IMF for poor countries," one of the G7 sources told Reuters.
The apparent compromise followed occasionally angry exchanges on Friday night as the G7 finance ministers sought to iron out their differences.
Under intense pressure to deliver on promises to rid Africa of poverty by 2015, they had discussed more modest options than British finance minister Gordon Brown's plan.
Brown had wanted approval for his International Finance Facility (IFF) scheme to double aid to Africa to $100 billion a year and write off the debts of the poorest countries completely.
The plan has the backing of South Africa's Nelson Mandela who made an emotional appeal to the G7, equating the fight against poverty to the struggle against apartheid.
"Do not delay while poor people continue to suffer," the 86-year-old former political prisoner said, putting all his moral weight behind his plea. He demanded a full write-off of African debt and $50 billion extra a year in aid for the next decade.
U.S. Treasury Under Secretary John Taylor said he disagreed with the Brown plan to double existing aid by using rich countries' guarantees to raise money in the capital markets, and using gold reserves to fund a debt write-off.
"What we think is the main, major problem now is the funds are not being used effectively. We've got to demand results," Taylor said on BBC radio.
Brown was forced to rescue negotiations after it became clear that backing from Italy and Germany was fading too as its European neighbors suggested they would prefer something less ambitious than the British proposals.
The G7 comprises the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada.
BACK SEAT FOR OTHER ISSUES
The bulk of the meeting was devoted to the Third World but the ministers also discussed ways of reducing volatility in the oil market after prices hit record highs last October.
They were also discussing the more familiar G7 topics of currency management and economic risks.
U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow is not attending because of a cold so there appeared little chance of ministers straying from a year-old policy statement in which they called for less volatile currency markets and greater exchange rate flexibility.
The latter point is aimed mainly at China, which sent its finance minister and central bank officials to meet G7 members.
"We are determined to move toward a flexible exchange rate, but no timetable," Chinese central bank deputy governor Li Ruogu told reporters after breakfast talks.
Beijing says it is not going to rush into altering its yuan peg to the dollar, which many say keeps the yuan artificially low and makes life unfairly difficult for other trading nations.
Brown invited India, Brazil and South Africa to London as well as China in an acknowledgement of a shift in the world economic order, and Brazilian Finance Minister Antonio Palocci said they would be seeking a permanent invite, like Russia has.
The G7 accounts for 14 percent of the world's population but two-thirds of its wealth.
How DARE Bush continuously tie aid to RESULTS?? Why, he's just a closet libeal like all those who send aid anywhere!!
The governments in those worst areas of the above mentioned problems are to blame, no one else.
The governments SURROUNDING those worst areas and countries are best able to help ASSUAGE the worst of the problems. They AIN'T ever going to "end" them.
It is huge arrogance on any country's (G7 or whomever's) part to imagine that ENDING poverty, crime, war, disease or hunger is going to happen any time soon in human history.
As Christians (Pick another, if you choose.) it's our duty to try our best to help. The operative words are TRY and HELP.
It's in our BEST INTERESTS, all the way around, to push for those pathetic governments and their SURROUNDING governments to change and make things better for their own people and neighbors.
Otherwise, we try to help, NOT get together with other non-neighbors and plan a strategy to "fix" it. Enormous waste of our time, effort and money.
You are right.
Chirac ISN'T France and neither is their left-wing media. Chirac and all those who envy and resent the U.S. (mostly the media in countries, including our own) will pound the U.S. because we can do nothing right.
And, for reducing problems in the world no matter what is done, IT WILL NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER BE ENOUGH.
It if were, they would be left with nothing to say or do. That would end their raison d'etre, which is to ONLY bellyache, whine, moan, complain and gripe. They have such problems with their own self-esteem, arrogance and lack of moral center that they MUST attack those with anything going for them...to feel worthy.
Chirac is still trying to resurrect the Holy Roman Empire, the last time his region had anything to brag about. The Third Way (Chirac is a charter member) Democrats here are just as bad. They use foreign aid as a way of appeasing and buying off hostile regimes. It never works. The tyrants pocket the money, people continue to starve and all we ever hear is nhow rich nations aren't doing enough.
The idea is for the UN to redistribute all the Western wealth to third world nations in ten years. This will allegedly end poverty in the world. Except that the UN will be stealing what money the tyrants don't and EVERYONE will be poor...except for those in our new global government, the UN.
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