`Coordination with other countries needed on economic crisis`

Lalit K Jha

Washington, Mar 14 (PTI) US President Barack Obama said
there is a need to coordinate with other countries on the
economic crisis so that there is match of the efforts being
undertaken by the US in this regard.

"We've got to do some coordination with other countries
in order to assure that what we do here in the United States
corresponds with strong efforts overseas," Obama said in his
remarks after meeting Paul Volcker, Chairman of his Economic
Recovery Advisory Board.

Obama has been talking with the world leaders in the past
few weeks in this regard, and this would be his agenda at the
upcoming G-20 summit at London next month, which among others
would also be attended by India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Lawrence H Summers, Obama’s top economic adviser, said
the President will be working on the global growth strategy at
the G-20. "Priorities will include spurring demand around the
world and assuring the adequacy of funding for emerging
markets," Summers, the Director of the National Economic
Council, said in his speech at the Brookings Institute.

"These are issues both for global recovery - at a time
when 2009 is likely to be the first year of negative global
growth since the Second World War - and for a healthy, less
debt-dependent US expansion," he said.

"Globally, the US must lead a levelling-up of regulatory
standards, not as has happened all too often in the recent
past, trying to win a race to the bottom," Summers said.

Later the White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs said: "The
President and the economic team believe that it's important
that we monitor what will and has been done by different
countries in order to make up for the projected downturn in
GDP and how that affects the global economy."

However, he said Obama and his team are not going to
Europe "looking for everyone to sign on the dotted line and
accept a certain percentage, but to evaluate continually what
is suggested, what is being done, and to ensure that as our
economies change, that we're continuing to evaluate whether
additional steps -- if the two per cent in some countries
haven't been made, can be looked at."

The US President looks forward to working with countries
in the G-20 to ensure that they are making progress and
continually evaluating what has to happen to address the
economic challenges.

Gibbs said on the agenda of G-20 will be a continued
discussion about how to update the financial regulatory
framework. PTI