UN Task Force To Review Global Financial System

General Assembly President sets up task force to review global financial system

21 October 2008 – The President of the General Assembly has announced he is setting up a high-level task force to review the global financial system, including major bodies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in response to the current turmoil that is affecting all countries, large and small.

Miguel D’Escoto has appointed Economics Nobel Laureate and Professor, Joseph Stiglitz, to chair the panel, which will also suggest steps to be taken by Member States “to secure a more stable global economic order,” according to a news release.

The composition and terms of reference of the task force will be announced soon after the holding of the Assembly’s special meeting on global financial crisis, scheduled for 30 October at UN Headquarters.

“There is a growing recognition that the current turmoil in the financial system cannot be solved through piecemeal responses at the national and regional levels but requires a coordinated effort at the global level,” the release stated.

It added that currently, developing countries’ voices and interests are not fairly represented in existing global institutions of economic governance.

“The developing world includes many more powerful economies than in 1944, its role in the trading system has grown significantly and it includes prominent creditor a well as debtor nations.

“As such, developing countries have an abiding interest in a democratic rules-based financial system, with effective financing mechanisms and impartial institutions able to deliver timely and tailored policy advice.”

Mr. D’Escoto has welcomed the initiatives and declarations of the leading industrial countries, including their intention to hold a summit on the current crisis, as well as the developing countries that are voicing their concern and calling for urgent action. “As the pressure for change builds up, the design of the new architecture must necessarily be inclusive and democratic to be credible and sustainable.”

He has also pledged to ensure a meaningful outcome at next month’s Doha Review Conference on Financing for Development, which he noted comes at a crucial time in the midst of the current turmoil.

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